Reunited
by allaboutlove01
Summary: It's been years since Riley visited New York. Her ex-best friend Maya, is getting married to her uncle, Josh. She reunites with her old best friends Farkle, and Zay. And her old high school sweetheart, Lucas Friar. Now she's back for the wedding, but things take a turn when friendships aren't so easy to repair and old feelings come back.
1. Chapter 1: New York

**Hi Everyone! Welcome to my new story called Reunited! I hope you like it. Give it a chance. **

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_**Riley's POV**_

Here I was. New York. It's been a while since I've been here. I remember the last time I was here. I had the most amazing best friend, Maya Hart. A troublesome uncle, Josh Matthews. The craziest best friends Zay, and Farkle, and last but not least the person who made life worth it. Lucas Friar, my boyfriend. Well, ex-boyfriend now. Now it's different. I'm no longer dating that quarterback from high school. I no longer have those daring best friends. I'm no longer close with that mysterious blonde. I'm here, not to stay, but to visit. Maya and Josh were getting _**married. **_It was hard to wrap around my head but it's happening.

I walked into my old home. Looks exactly the same as it did when I left for Canada. I walked into my old bedroom and put my suitcases down. Pink. That's all I saw. I was no longer that sunshine girl that everyone called me back in high school. I'm not dark either, I just grew up. Sometimes I wish I were, I could see the world a lot more different than I do today, but as of right now I don't think that Riley is coming back. I sat on my bed to take a breath. To take in everything that was happening right now. My uncle and my ex-best friend were getting married. I hadn't talked to them for years. Only my uncle. I couldn't talk to any of my old friends after I left for Canada. I couldn't do a long distance relationship with Lucas. It didn't feel right. The bond wasn't as strong. So instead of suffering from the pain of not being close with my friends anymore I just stopped talking to them. The hardest thing I have ever done. I regret it. I cut off all communication with them. When my parent's talked about them I told them I didn't want to know about their lives. I was afraid of being sad because I wasn't there to celebrate with them. When I talked to Josh over the phone, he told me he had something important to tell me. Of course, I told him not to say anything. Not to bring up Maya, Lucas, Zay, Farkle any of them. But he told me it was urgent, and that I would want to know. He proposed to Maya, and that in a couple of months me, my parents and my younger brother were coming out there to help them plan the wedding. Maya didn't want me to come. Lucas didn't want me to come. Farkle, and Zay were the only people with calm reactions. But I dont blame Lucas and Maya. I cut them out of my life. I _**hurt **_them. Now I'm here. And after I'm done packing I'm going to see them. I'm going to see _**Maya.**_ I'm going to see _**Lucas. **_

I went back into the living room as I got the huge box with my mirror in it. I needed it. As of right now the way I look matters to me. It's been years since they saw me. The first impression matters. I put the mirror against the wall by the closet and then went fishing for clothes to wear. I looked at my hair. Greasy. Everything looked greasy. I had been sweating the whole plane ride. Not because I'm also afraid of heights but because I was afraid of seeing them again. I went into the bathroom and started running the hot water. Then I walked back into my room, grabbed my favorite shampoo and body wash and put them aside the tub. Now it was time for the outfit. It was hot as hell in New York. It's July. The summer time. I needed a summer outfit. There were two options. A summer dress or a crop top and booty shorts. The last time they saw me I always wore dresses. I want them to know I'm a different person now. I picked up the grey halter crop top with the denim booty shorts. I decided to top it off with some black vans.

Perfect, I said to myself. But then I wondered again, _**who was I trying to impress? **_It wasn't hard to think about it. It was _**Lucas. **_Every time I think of his name I get sick. I feel as if someone punched me in the stomach and as if there's a huge ball stuck in my throat. It's been almost 5 years and he still makes me nervous. I'm going to be here for the next 6 months. I need to get used to hearing his name and _**seeing him.**_ I folded my clothes and put them neatly on the bed then got in the tub. After that, I slipped on my clothes and blow dried my hair. I wanted to curl my hair to make sure everything was perfect but then again I knew the extreme heat was going to mess it up so I left it alone.

"Riley! Time to go!" I heard my mom call from the living room. I took another check in the mirror. I put on some mascara and red lipstick. Now it was time to go.

"Here I am." I walked into the living room to greet my family. Topanga, my mother was the reason why I moved. She had a huge job opportunity she couldn't give up. I had just graduated from high school. I was 18 so I had to opportunity to stay in New York by myself or go and live with my parents. I decided to stay with my family. I had just turned an adult but that doesn't mean I felt like one. I knew how much I needed my family even if that meant leaving Lucas. I am now 22 years old. I just graduated from college. Auggie, my brother was now in Middle School. He's growing up fast.

"Um…" Cory, my father looked me up and down in disgust. I don't usually wear things like this so I know how he feels.

"Really Riley? That's not appropriate right now we're about to go visit Maya and Josh."

"Mom, it's like 90 degrees outside and yes we're just visiting Maya and Josh. They dont care about how I dress. Maya's dresses the same as well." I crossed my arms.

"What the hell." Auggie came into the living room looking me up and down as well.

"I know right," Cory added.

"Auggie! What did I tell you? Watch your mouth!" Topanga scolded, "and Cory. What did I tell you? Stop ignoring it when he says such foul language."

"I'm sorry I'm sorry. I'm just as shook about what Riley is wearing,"

"Look. I'm 22. I can wear whatever I want. Can we just leave?" I was in a rush to get there. I didn't want to be there. I didn't want to face them all at the same time but standing here thinking about it which was making me sick was worse than actually facing them.

"Whatever. Let's go." Topanga grabbed her keys. We walked outside and got into the car. We finally pulled off. I felt sick to my stomach. I wanted to throw up. I wanted to turn around now. I wanted to go back to Canada. I didn't want to face my problems. The whole car ride I didn't say anything. I heard my mom and dad talking about how excited they were to see Josh's and Maya's new house and how excited they were to see my friends and how they turned into adults. My thoughts were panic until we stopped.

"We're here!" Topanga smiled as she got out of the car. Followed by Cory and Auggie. I stayed in the car. I looked outside the window. This was their house. They _**lived together. **_Then I saw a familiar car. And that's when I knew we were here. _**The Black Drop Top Mercedes Benz. **_Lucas's car. I remember that car like I was in it yesterday. The car he picked me up in every day to drive me to school. The car he took me to dates in. The car we spent long minutes making out in. The car he took me to _**prom**_ in. It looked new and glossy. Like it always did. I remember he used to take it to get it washed every weekend. I remember _**everything. **_I bet he still does.

"Riley come on!" My mother yelled at me.

I stepped out the car, and as soon as that happened Josh came outside. This was it.


	2. Chapter 2: Old Friends

**Hey guys! Welcome back to Chapter 2 of Reunited! I hope you're liking the story so far. Yesterday there was like a glitch when it posted a chapter it wasn't supposed to so if yesterday you read Chapter 1 and Smackle was mentioned erase that from your mind lmao she wasn't supposed to be in Chapter 1. Thank you for your follows, favs and reviews. I'm going to start answering reviews and responding to them so if you want to say anything or have any questions feel free to do so. Fav, Follow, and Review. Thank you. **

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**Riley's POV**

They lived in a medium-sized home. The family house you usually saw. The garage and parkway in the front. A beautiful garden. A huge porch with a bench. She had been living in a crappy apartment her whole life. Maya always wanted a house like this. And I know how excited she is to move in with Josh. _**Possibly start a family. **_Which will most definitely happen. After all, Josh is 25 now.

"Uncle Josh!" Auggie went to hug Josh. Auggie and Josh had a special bond since he's always wanted a brother. He told me he liked having a sister but it wasn't enough because I didn't like the things he did, and he's right. I didn't. Nerf gun wars and wrestling were not my thing. I never understood how he felt until I moved to Canada. _**Maya was my sister. **_We did everything together. _**There wasn't a time we were apart.**_ Only when she had to go home because of curfew but there was barely any times that happened. She usually spent the night over my house. Now _**I didn't have a sister. **_

"Damn man. I just saw you last summer. How do you keep growing more and more? " He hugged Auggie. Auggie did look a lot different from the last time everyone saw him. He was no longer a little boy. He was 14 years old. Almost 15. And was about to become a freshman in high school.

"Puberty Man. The best thing that's ever happened to me." He nodded.

I chuckled at his comment, watching my mom and dad hug Josh. Cory and Josh were brothers. They did their little bro hug thing and my mom covered Josh in kisses which he hated. It was a special moment because it was the first time seeing each other, but it was the first time seeing each other only for a _**year. **_My family came to visit everyone every summer. They flew out here for about 2 weeks in August before they went back to work. That was their vacation. Unlike me, I hadn't seen anyone in _**4 years. **_I was afraid to come. And yes my fear was that bad because I had 4 opportunities to see them. _**I took none of them, and I still feel horrible for it. **_

My thoughts got interrupted when it got quiet. I felt eyes on me.

"Well well well." Joshua walked and stopped in front of me, "_**Riley Matthews." **_

I smiled. Josh looked the same. He may have had a little stub of hair under his chin and under his nose but that was it. He was 25 but he still looked the same as he did when I lived in New York. It was insane.

"_**Joshua Matthews."**_ I murmured.

"Come here Riley." He ordered as he pulled me into a hug. I hugged back. I wanted to cry but I didn't. I couldn't believe I waited this long to see him. He was the only one I talked to in Canada. But the facetime calls we had were nothing like this right now. This was much better.

"Congratulations." I praised him as I pulled out of the hug.

"Are you shocked?" He asked me.

Was I shocked? _**Of course, I was shocked. **_When I was in New York they weren't dating. Maya always liked Josh. Since we were little kids. We were 12 years old. Josh was 15 at the time. He was babysitting us because my parents didn't trust us to stay alone. They mostly didn't trust Maya though. The whole time all he did was sit and talk with us. Ever since then she's had a crush on him. Back then it was more of puppy love. She was always desperate for him, but in senior year I found out it was more serious than I thought it was. She _**loved**_ him. But that was it. She loved him and he didn't have the same feelings in return. They weren't together when I left for Canada. They must've got together after.

"Yeah, I am. I didn't know you guys were together until you told me you were engaged so."

"Yeah Riley. You missed a lot. And no one told you because well...You didn't let anyone tell you anything."

He was right. As of right now I only know they're engaged. I know nothing about how they got together, and I know nothing about the others because I didn't let them tell me.

"Yeah." I frowned as I looked down at the ground.

"You guys like the house?" He asked.

"Its amazing Josh. I told you-you would like it." Topanga said.

"Yeah, I guess. I thought it was lame because it didn't have a pool like I wanted but I couldn't afford a house with a pool. So I got this instead. It's a cool house." He told them.

I nodded along.

"Anyways. Everyone's inside. We were waiting for you to get here. Come on." He beamed as he walked up the concrete stairs. I took a deep breath. I felt exactly how I was when I was sitting in the car. Scared to come out. Now once I go in there's no coming back. Once I walk up these stairs I'll see them. I'll see Farkle and Zay. Ill see _**Maya**_. Ill see _**Lucas. **_

"Come on Riley."

I looked up. My family were already at the top of the stairs by the door. I took one more breath and walked up the stairs. They walked in first. I couldn't breathe. My heart was beating faster than normal. I walked in behind them not knowing what to expect. As Josh lead us to the living room I heard laughter and talking. I knew that was Zay's laugh. I could recognize his voice from a mile away, Made me feel warm. Zay was always the fun one in the group back in High School. He made everyone laugh and made sure everyone stayed positive. Then I heard Farkle speaking. I hadn't seen him since high school but I could already tell he changed a lot just by the sound of his deep voice. I heard some unfamiliar voices. _**I didn't hear Maya's voice or Lucas. **_

We had finally arrived in the living room.

"Hey everyone!" My mom screamed with joy as she saw everyone. My grandparents were here. I saw Zay's parents. I saw Farkle's parents. Katy and Shawn were sitting on the couch. He had his arm wrapped around her and she had her hand on his leg. I had no idea why they were so close. But I was going to figure out soon.

"Hey!" I greeted them.

"Oh, Riley." Shawn stood up and gave me a big bear hug, "Do you even remember me?" He joked around.

"Of course I remember you Uncle Shawn." Shawn is my dads best friend. He's not my uncle but I call him Uncle Shawn because of how close we were. I hadn't seen him since graduation. He didn't always come to my house when he was with my dad. He used to when I was a kid. They got serious jobs and got busy. But he is one of the people I facetimed.

"How have you been sweetheart?" He asked me.

"The same since the last time I called you. Literally. Nothing I has changed." I let out a fake laugh. This was the worst part of reuniting with people. It was always the same question. How are you, what have you been up to, how did school go, blah blah this blah blah that. I was expecting those questions from the rest of them too.

"Well as long as you're okay." He said.

I nodded then turned to Katy.

"Hi Riley." She pulled me in for a hug as well, "I haven't forgotten about you. I'm so glad you could make it." She smiled at me.

"Yeah me too. Thank you." I knew Katy wasn't going to be mad at me. Not because she's an adult and it would be kind of childish if she was but because of everything I did for Maya. She knows me and my family cared about Maya a lot back then. _**She knew the strong bond we had. **_I wanted to ask why they were just cuddling but I didn't.

Then that's when I saw my two old friends. Farkle and Zay.

Man, they looked different. _**Different as hell.**_ Farkle got taller. Way taller. Almost taller than Zay. He changed his style. No more plaid shirts and colored pants. He was wearing a black leather jacket and jeans with a silver chain and his hair was swooped to the side. Zay he had gotten tall too. Instead of the regular haircut he had in high school, his hair was now small curls, and he had a brief beard. They looked good.

I walked over to them awkwardly. I was nervous of course. Maya and Lucas were hurt the most but Farkle and Zay were my best friends too so when I cut them off they were also angry and upset.

"Hey, guys…" I bit my lip hoping they wouldn't ignore me or make a scene.

"Hey _**Riles.**_" Zay greeted me with a smile.

_**Riles.**_ He said _**Riles. **_I hadn't heard that name in a long time. Only my close friends called me that. I missed that nickname.

"Hey, welcome back Riles. We missed you." Farkle gave me a little nudge.

I was much more comfortable now that I talked to Farkle and Zay. They were calm and welcoming. Something I didn't expect. I knew they still had to be mad at what I did, and I'm going to address the situation later but right now I was just glad they were talking to me.

"I missed you guys too." I gushed.

"How's Canada?" Zay questioned.

My life in Canda and my life in New York were so different.

"Great. Took a lot of getting used to but it's good overall. I finally finished college. It was hard." I told them, "How is life in New York?" I asked.

"Amazing." They both said at the same time then looked at each other and laughed.

"What college did you guys decide to go to?" I asked.

"We went to NYU. All 4 of us. Well, 6."

6? There were only 4 of them. Lucas, Maya, Farkle, and Zay.

"6?" I wondered.

"Smackle, and Jade. Me and Jade have been dating for two years. We met at a party."

"And Smackle and I have been dating for three years. After our high school chemistry, we finally decided to get together I guess. It took a very long time, some years but it all worked out in the end," Farkle told me.

I looked around in an instant heartbeat. That was the unfamiliar voice. _**Isadora Smackle. **_I remember her too. Her and Farkle always had this weird relationship. They obviously liked each other but never made it official. She was a nerd back in high school. She had the suspenders, the high socks, and the glasses. _**She no longer looked like that anymore.**_ Her clothes were completely different. She didn't wear her hair in the pigtails or ponytails anymore. Her hair was thick, long and wavy. Her curves had come in. She wore black long leather high heel boots, with high waisted jeans and a black crop top. _**She matched right along with Farkle. **_Then there was Jade. A girl I had never seen before. She was an African American girl with box braids. She dressed similar to Smackle but instead she wore a blue top.

"Wow. I really did miss a lot." I frowned, "I'm happy you guys found the one." I told them.

"Thanks." They both said.

I still hadn't talked to my grandparents yet. They were too busy talking to my mom and dad, but I still hadn't seen the people I was scared to see the most. Maya and Lucas. I looked around. I saw neither of them until I heard someone say her name.

"Maya these smell amazing," Josh told her as he helped her set the cupcakes down on the table,

_**There she was. Maya Penelope Hart. My old best friend. **_

Uh Oh. There it was. The sick feeling I felt as if I was about to throw up. I didn't move a muscle. I just stared at her. Waiting for her reaction. Waiting for her to notice me,

She was the same old Maya. She looked the same just older at the same time. She was still short. Still blonde. She still had the rebel look. The only thing that was different was now she wore makeup, and her rebel look was much more organized than it was in high school. I couldn't say anything. I didn't know what to say. That's when she had finally made eye contact with me. The look she gave me. I felt attacked. It wasn't a good look. Suddenly the room fell quiet. There wasn't a sound. The only thing I could hear was how fast my heart was beating. They knew me and Maya had conflict. They knew what had happened. She looked me up and down. And then her mouth moved as if she was about to say something. But she suddenly closed it and didn't.

"Ummm there's red velvet, chocolate, and vanilla cupcakes. Who wants one?" Joshua asked around the room trying to break the tension. The room finally took their eyes off of us and went back to talk and eating their cupcakes.

I walked up to her. Not because I wanted to. It's like my body moved without a command.

"Hey...Congratulations...Maya." I said forcing the words out of my mouth.

"Yeah, thanks." She said. That was it. No follow up question. No smile. Nothing. She had walked away. Leaving me speechless. Standing there. _**She was still hurt. **_I was shocked even though I expected it. That was Maya. She could never hold her dislike for someone inside.

"Give her time." Someone came up from behind me and patted my shoulder. It was Josh.

"I know. It's my fault in the first place." I pouted.

"She just needs more time. But later on, I would try to talk to her if I were you. Explain why you did what you did." He confronted me.

"I know. I will. I just need the right place and time. Thanks, Josh."

"Yeah, anytime niece."

He was about to walk away until I grabbed his arm. There was one person I hadn't seen yet. One person that hadn't come in at all but I know he was here because his car was here. I needed to see him. _**I needed to see Lucas.**_

"Josh, wheres Lucas?" I wondered. His face suddenly dropped. He looked at me in disappointment. Did I do something wrong? Was I not supposed to ask that?

"What?" I questioned wondering why he was looking at me in that way.

"Sorry Riley, but he left." He told me.

I turned my head in disbelief. That was impossible. I saw his car outside a couple of minutes ago.

"No. His car is still out there."

"No. His car was out there before you came inside the house." He put on an awkward look.

I didn't understand. I didn't understand what he had meant. I left out through the living room. Dashing through everyone until I reached the door. I walked outside and looked around. Josh was right. He wasn't here. _**His car was gone. Lucas left. Lucas left as soon as I arrived. **_He had to leave out the back door when I was coming in from the front. Lucas left because he didn't want to see me. _**At all.**_

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I´m going to be answering to the reviews now! I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

**Review #1: This is off to a great start! I can't wait to read Joshaya's wedding and everyone's reaction to Riley being being back in town. I wonder how she is going to manage to fix things with her friends now that she is back.**

**My Response: Thank you! I can't wait until you read it either. Tune in to see what happens!**

**Review #2: So excited for Rucas!**

**Review #3: hope you update soon, looks to a good one so far**

**My responses to both: Thank you and can´t wait for you to read. **


	3. Chapter 3: Boyfriend

**Hi guys! Welcome back to Chapter 3 of Reunited. This is a very short and basic chapter but basically it was just a chapter to show you guys where things were going. I hope you're liking the story so far and I can't wait for you to read more. Fav, Follow, and Review! Thanks xoxo. **

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**Riley's POV**

It's been a week since I saw everyone. We had another meeting about their wedding on Friday and all I could think about was Lucas. I wanted to see him, but he didn't want to see me. I understood that and I'm going to apologize. To everyone. I just need the right time and place. I didn't want to make everything suddenly about me in the middle of their wedding planning. I had so many thoughts about Lucas running through my brain. I wondered how different he looked, what major he went to college for, how his family was doing if he ever traveled back to Texas, and most importantly if he had gotten a _**new girlfriend.**_ I knew I shouldn't be thinking about that, but I couldn't help it. I had to refrain from thinking about Lucas's love life at all times, and that was because of one person. And one person only.

I looked at the clock then picked up my phone. It 4 am. Which means it was time to see him. I hopped out of my bed and put on my slippers. I looked in the mirror wondering if I should keep my night clothes on or at least put on something a little cute for him. At the same time, I was tired. When I'm done picking him up I'm probably gonna go back to sleep anyways so I just left my outfit how it is. I walked out into the living room, silently trying not to wake anyone. Picked up my coat, and my keys and left out the door. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't sleep this whole week. I was going to the airport to pick up a familiar face. Someone who was close to me. Someone who might change everything if my friends met him. When he told me he wanted to come to New York with me I was shocked. At the same time, I expected it. I couldn't say no. I finally arrived at the airport, getting my sign out the backseat. The airport was way too crowded so I decided to bring a sign so he could find me right away without having to search through a large crowd. I felt a vibrate on the side of my leg. I got a text from him.

**I'm off the plane. Where are you?**

_**Look for the bright neon sign. There's no words on it. **_

I put the phone back in my pocket and held up the sign as high as I could. I waited for a moment until I finally saw him in the distance. There he was. _**Daniel. **_Daniel was my **boyfriend.** We've only been dating for a year and some months. When I came to Canada I was lost. I had no friends and I didn't know my way around. I met Daniel in my freshman year of college. When I first met him he reminded me of Maya. He was wild, he was funny, and he was always in trouble. He always wears all black, and he always has on his leather jacket. If I'm being honest I would have never thought I would date someone like him. But he was the only friend I had for a while. Through Freshman, Sophomore and Junior year he tried his hardest to get with me. I kept letting him down. Not because I didn't like him as a person but because I was still recovering from being with Lucas. It didn't feel right trying to replace so I never did and I didn't want to. Until the mid of Junior year when my mom suggested that I needed to stop torturing myself and actually have fun. It made me think of Daniel. That's when one night he asked me one final time to go on a date with him as more than just friends, and I said _**yes. **_Ever since then we've been dating.

"Hey babe." He smiled as he walked up to me and kissed me as if we haven't been together for a long time.

"Calm down. I've only been here for a week. I saw you right before I left." I laughed.

"I know," He said softly as he ran his fingers through my hair, "but you know I love your lips." He teased as he kissed me again.

"Yeah, I know you do." I chuckled and helped him with his bags. I walked him back to the car and got in. My parents liked Daniel. When I first introduced him to my parents they could tell he was trouble, but they liked him anyway because they were happy I had finally moved on from my pain. Thankfully, I helped Daniel change as a person. He's no longer trouble. And now he's a more dedicated person.

When we got home the first thing he did was look around my house. He seemed so interested in New York. That's probably because he had never been in America before.

"People told me New York was great but I didn't know it was this great." He practically yelled.

"Shhh! My parents and my brother are asleep."

"I'm sorry. It's just really pretty. There are so many lights."

I laughed, "Daniel you're being dramatic. There are lights in Canada too."

"Obviously. But it's nothing like New York."

I smiled at him then walked back into my room to lay down on my bed. He followed right behind, turning on my lights to see how my room looked.

¨So girly." He said.

"Yup." I shrugged kicking off my shoes.

He sat next to me, "Are you okay? You seem unhappy to see me."

I sighed. It's not that I wasn't happy to see him. It's not that I didn't want him here. It was the fact that he was going to meet everyone. It didn't feel right bringing him there after the bad breakup Lucas and I had, but I had to bring him anyways. Josh wanted to meet him, Shawn wanted to meet him, and my grandparents wanted to meet him. He was also attending the wedding.

"Of course I'm happy to see you. I'm just tired." I lied.

"Yeah me too. I barely got any sleep on the plane."

"Then let's go to sleep," I told him.

"Wait, when are we going to meet your family and friends?" He asked me.

"Not until a few more days." I told him, "But I have to tell you something." I suddenly sat up. _**I hadn't told Daniel anything. **_He knew nothing about Maya and Lucas. Nothing about Zay and Farkle. All he knew was that we were here for my uncle's wedding. Not the fact that my uncle was getting married to my ex-best friend and that he was going to meet my ex-boyfriend in a few days.

"What is it?" He wondered.

"I didn't tell you this because I didn't want to bring it up but there's something you dont know about the people you're going to meet."

"Okay…" He worried, "What about them?"

"Remember when you asked me how was life back in New York and what were my friends like?"

"Yes," He responded.

"And remember I said I didn't want to talk about life back in New York or my friends?"

"Yes," he said again.

"Well. That's because of the way I treated them." I told him.

"How did you treat them?"

"I dont want to get into too much detail. It's hard to talk about, but I cut them out of my life forever. My best friend Maya, who is getting married to my uncle Josh. My two other best friends Zay and Farkle and _**my boyfriend Lucas." **_

His face dropped. I expected that too. Anything that had something to do with another boy he didn't like. He was very overprotective of me, and I liked that but sometimes things could get messy.

"Boyfriend? Lucas?" He repeated.

"Yes. I was just telling you so you wouldn't be confused by the weird vibes that you may feel when meeting them. I dont think Lucas and Maya will say hi to you if I'm being honest. Everyone else will though." I told him.

He had completely ignored what I said, "You and this Lucas guy have no contact right? You never spoke to him while we're dating?" He questioned.

"Yes, I hadn't spoken to any of them." I crossed my arms, "Please dont make this just about Lucas. It's about everyone that I hurt Daniel."

"Riley I'm not, I'm not I promise. I just wanted to make sure you guys weren't talking behind my back."

"No, we weren't."

"Well, I'm happy to meet anyone, even him. I dont mind of course. I trust you."

"Are you sure?" I asked him.

"Yes, Riley. What did you think I was going to do start a fight?" He asked me.

I sat there in silence.

"Really Riley." He laughed, "I would never do that."

"Well good, and that's all I wanted to say. I'm so tired. I'm gonna go to sleep now." I said as I laid back down. He laid right next to me, "Yeah me too." He said.

In a few days, he was going to meet everyone. All I could think about was how Lucas was going to react. What if he gets angry that I replaced him? What if he doesn't care because he has a girlfriend himself? Soon my mom was going to get up and see Daniel in my bed. Which is going to cause her to call Josh and my grandparents saying that he has arrived. Which is going to spread to the others. _**Sooner or Later the word about Daniel was going to get out. **_


	4. Chapter 4: Face to Face

**Hi Everyone! Welcome back to the 4th Chapter of Reunited. I hope you're enjoying it so far. Sorry I took so long to update, I had so much homework and I was really busy but Im back now. Anyways there's not much to say. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, there's a huge twist. Fav Review and Follow! **

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**Riley's POV**

I looked in the mirror as a smoothed out my black dress. My feet were already hurting from the strappy heels I was wearing but it was worth it. I looked good. I looked over to Daniel. He was wearing the same thing he usually wore. His leather jacket. I didn't know why. It was hot as hell in New York but that didn't stop him from wearing it.

"Trying to match me?" He smirked walking behind me as he looked in the mirror at the two of us together.

"Yes actually. Since you didn't want to wear a tie."

I had tried to get him to wear something a little more formal. I knew no one would care about the way he dressed but for some reason I just wanted everything to be perfect. For him to look perfect.

"Don't you want your family to see the real me? The real way I dress? I'd rather stay true to who I am then later them find out I'm different."

He was right. I'm just overreacting because I'm nervous.

"Yes. Of course."

He slipped his hands around my waist and landed a kiss right on the side of my neck, "Good."

He said before looking in the mirror to fix his hair, "You ready?" He questioned.

_**No**_. I wanted to tell him no. To tell him that meeting them wasn't a good idea. That he should just leave and wait for me to come back to Canada.

"Yes." I spit out trying not to say the opposite word.

"Come on. Your family is in the car waiting on us."

I sighed as I looked in the mirror one more time before turning my bedroom light off and closing my door.

When we got there Josh was standing by the curve waiting for us. I was wondering why he was waiting for us. This isn't the first day we arrived like last time. That wasn't the only thing I saw. I saw Lucas's car. I wanted to wait outside while they went in. Just to see if he would sneak through the back again and leave. I didn't want him to leave. I wanted to see him.

"Hey Josh." My parents greeted him as we got out of the car. They all gave him a hug followed by me. That's when he stepped in front of Daniel and put his hand out.

"You must be Daniel." He smiled.

"Yes. And you must be Josh, Riley's uncle. Congratulations on your engagement." He shook his hand.

"Thanks bro. Nice to meet you. Riley's told me many great things about you." Josh told him.

"Same for you. You seem to be her favorite in the family."

"Oh Really?" Josh smirked playfully pushing me.

They were both right. Since Josh was the only person I wanted to bring up from my past I talked about him all the time. And since Josh was the only person I could talk to, I talked about Daniel a lot to him. Josh already knew everything about Danule because I told him everything. But when I was talking about Josh, I left out the most important and the most interesting detail. The fact that the whole time we were in middle school and high school together, _**my best friend tried to get with him.**_ That was the adventure of _**everything.**_

I rolled eyes, "Okay guys. You've met. Can we go inside now?"

I was impatient. Impatient as hell. Only because I wanted to see Lucas. I didn't get to see him last time.

"Actually, Riley can I talk to you for a minute. Alone."

I looked at Josh suddenly getting nervous. He looked serious. When was Joshua Matthews ever serious? _**Why would Josh need to talk to me?**_ I had a feeling I knew what it was about. It either was about Maya or Lucas. _**Or both. **_

I put on a fake smile for Daniel, "Follow my parents. I'll meet you there."

I didn't want to send him in there without me being by his side, but I had to anyway.

"Okay." He said before giving me a peck on the cheek then walking away.

Josh watched him walk away before speaking.

"You probably already know what it's about." He claimed.

"Is it about Lucas?" I asked.

He nodded.

Of course it was. I looked around. His car was still here, and my boyfriend was inside. He would have already left when he saw him. Lucas was staying.

"What about him?" I asked.

"He's here, and he's not leaving like he did last time. But Riley he's angry. He has a grudge against you for what you did to him. And he's especially angry since you came with your new boyfriend."

Lucas didn't like that Daniel was here. The word about Daniel had gotten around like I said it would. I got a text from Farkle after 4 years asking if Daniel was going to be with me on Wednesday. I felt bad because that was also the first time unblocking all of their numbers. When _**I cut them off I blocked all their social media, and every number they tried to contact me from. **_That's when they got the hint I didn't want to talk to them and _**they stopped trying.**_ That's why I felt so bad. Believe me, I know how much I hurt them.

"I dont blame him." I frowned.

"I know. I just wanted to give you a warning. And another thing...about Maya."

Maya. I was worried about Maya. I couldn't predict what she was going to say or how she was going to react.

"She wouldn't say anything rude or disrespectful towards you. She knows better. You're my niece. She knows her boundaries. Not only that I think she wouldn't do that to you after how much you were there for her before you left."

I nodded. To be honest I felt like I didn't know what they were going to do. _**Its been too long to predict what they were going to do. **_I _**used**_ to know them.

"Is that all?" I asked.

"No. There's one more huge thing you don't know. But I'm not going to tell you myself because I dont know how you'll react. So I want you to find out for yourself. And you will once you walk in there."

I panicked. Why would he even tell me that if he wasn't going to tell me right now?

"W-w-what is it? You cant do this to me, you can't not tell me." I stuttered getting more nervous than I was.

"I tried to tell you over the phone so many times. I felt like you should know. But now you will. Youll be fine Riley. _**They're lovely girls. **_They _**both**_ are."

Girls? Both? Now he was just trying to confuse me even more.

"Who is-"

I couldn't finish my sentence. He walked away. Leaving me speeches.

"Come on." He stopped at the porch to turn back at me and went inside. I followed behind. I was tired of being nervous. I was tired of being afraid to walk up these steps. It's only been two weeks out of 6 months here and I still couldn't enter their house without wanting to turn around. I needed to get used to it. Not only did I have to worry about how they would like Daniel, but now I have to figure out who Josh was talking about.

"There you are." I jumped as I felt a grab on my hand. Everyone looked at me.

"Are you okay?" He whispered in my ear,

"You okay there Riley?" Shawn asked me sitting on the couch.

I put on a fake smile, "Yes, just got a little startled that's all."

I wasn't okay. I was paranoid. Paranoid as hell. I was still thinking about what Josh couldn't tell me. I wanted to look around for Lucas but I was too nervous to even move a muscle.

"Okay good. Why dont you introduce us to your boyfriend?"

That's when the whole room went quiet and everyone looked at us. I finally moved my neck. Looking around the room to see who was in here. It was the same people as last time just new people. I saw Zay, Farkle, Smackle, and Jade. Shawn and Katy. My grandparents, the new people, and Maya and Josh. They were all staring at me and Daniel. The only person I didn't see was Lucas, but I knew for a fact he was here.

I gulped not knowing what to say, "This is my boyfriend...Daniel."

"Hey everyone." He smiled at them. I could tell he was uncomfortable as well. There were about 20 people looking at us. He didn't like attention and neither did I.

"Hey Daniel. Nice to meet you. Welcome to the family." My grandparents smiled back.

I heard someone laugh. Not a good laugh. A petty laugh. It was Maya.

"Family. Yeah ok." She rolled her eyes and walked away. Josh looked at her in disbelief and followed behind her,

I looked up at my boyfriend and grabbed his arm to motion him not to say anything. He looked back. He understood.

"Dont mind her," Zay awkwardly said.

Daniel nodded, and then turned to me. Everyone went back to what they were doing.

"Your family seems cool." He told me.

"Yeah I guess."

I remember the last time I did this. _**Lucas and I started dating in Middle School.**_ Since we were still kids and didn't know what we were doing we broke up. We then got back together in the middle of Freshman Year. _**I couldn't stop talking about him**_ and eventually, everyone wanted to have a formal dinner with him. My parents always knew who he was, but since we were in a more serious relationship they wanted to get to know him better. Now this time _**it wasn't Lucas.**_ It was _**Daniel.**_

"Woahh." Daniel looked over to Zay and Farkle. They were playing the PlayStation.

"Can we go over there?" He asked so amusingly.

"Actually I think I'm going to go catch up with everyone but you can, they'll let you play." I smiled at him.

"Alright cool. Talk to you later?"

I nodded. He kissed me on the cheek and walked off. I looked around. I still saw no Lucas. Maya and Josh had disappeared into another room. Farkle and Zay were playing with Daniel, and Jade and Smackle were talking to some unfamiliar girls. I walked up to them hoping Smackle would remember who I was.

"Hey!" I greeted her from behind.

"Hey Riley!" She gave me a huge hug. One I wasn't expecting. Smackle was always a kind person. We used to be science buddies all the time in Middle and High school. We had a few run-ins where she thought I was trying to steal Farkle away from her. Same for Maya. Sooner or Later she realized Farkle was not our type and that he was definitely all hers. At the end of senior year, she went to prom with him, I went with Lucas, and Maya went with a friend named Chad.

"How have you been?" She asked me.

Different.

"Good." I answered, "And you?"

"I've been great. Honestly, college was the best experience ever. I'm sad it is over but onto bigger and better things right?" She smiled at me.

"Right." I smiled back.

"This is Zay's girlfriend, Jade."

Jade smiled at me, "Hey. You must be Riley. Nice to meet you, I've heard a lot about you." She said.

I didn't know how to feel about that. How did she hear a lot about me and from who? What could anyone possibly be saying? Everyone hated me before I came here, and some still do. The only person who could've possibly said something positive was Josh, and if it wasn't him then she must've heard all bad things about me.

"Ohhhh….Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" I questioned scared wondering what she was going to say next.

She tilted her head back and forth, "Well...I've heard bad things about you and I've heard really good things about you."

"Yeah...I know they probably made me seem bad but I swear I not a bad person. I only did what I did for a reason." I tried to explain to her.

She laughed, "Dont worry Riley. I can tell you aren't a bad person. Besides, I dont judge people based on what other people say."

"Good." I let out a breath relieved. I looked over to the other two girls who were standing beside Jade and Smackle. One was a blonde, she was holding a toddler. The other was a redhead, who looked mean.

"This is Katherine and Payge."

"Hey." The redhead greeted me.

The blonde just looked up and smiled at me then looked back to the baby.

"Katherine is one of our friends, and so is Payge." Smackle told me.

The redhead had two piercings on her lower lip, one by her eyebrow, and one in her nose. She had a couple of tattoos. Even though she looked scary she greeted me with kindness. The blonde gave off a weird vibe. She had probably heard some bad things about me. She then looked at me, down from my toes up to my head, and quickly went back to playing with the baby. I wondered whose baby she was holding. She looked too young to have a baby.

"Um, Jade can you watch Lily for me? I'll be right back." Payge told her.

"Sure." Jade picked up the baby. Lily looked about two years old, and she had brown hair with green eyes.

"She's beautiful." I smiled admiring the baby.

"Yeah she is." Jade smiled too.

"Can I hold her?" I asked.

Smackle Jade and Katherine looked at each other. I immediatelly regretted asking. It was a risky question after all. I didn't even know whose baby it was.

"I'm pretty sure you can…" She said awkwardly then giving me Lily.

"Who are Lily's parents?" I asked looking into her green eyes. She looked like someone. Someone familiar. I just couldn't come up with an answer.

"Payge is her mom."

So she was a mother. I thought she was just holding the baby. She must've been in love to have a baby or maybe it was just teen pregnancy. She had to look just like her father because she looked nothing like her mother. I wasn't going to ask who the father was. I didn't want to get in anyone's business.

"Oh." I softly said and kept holding her. She was adorable. She had her little pink bow shoes on with a pink dress. She also had a bow in her hair. She didn't do much, just stared at me and chewed on her fingers.

"Smackle, Jade, I need-" Maya had finally come into the living room. She stopped talking. She stared at me. Stared at me with such confusion, such fear. I looked around, maybe I was missing something, but no. She was staring at me.

"Hi," I said not knowing what else to say. I knew she didn't like me. But she's seen me here before, so this wasn't her first impression of seeing me. I was confused.

"Maya-" I tried to talk to her but she walked away.

"What's wrong with her?" I asked them.

"Fuck. I think I know what she's about to do." Katherine groaned running away to find Maya.

"What-what is she going to do?" I asked. Scared of not knowing what was about to happen,

"I dont know. I swear I have no idea." Smackle told me.

I turned around, breathing heavily. I didn't want to show my feelings. I didn't want them to see me panicking.

"Dada." I heard Lily's soft voice say.

I had no idea she could talk, and I didn't know who her dad was.

"I'm sorry Lily. I dont know where he is." I patted her back.

"Dada." She said again this time holding her arms out in the opposite direction.

I turned around. Surrounded by a tall figure. Before I could even breathe. Before I could even blink, I no longer had Lily in my arms. His big hands had taken her away from me.

"Dada." She hugged him.

I stood there. Frozen. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. _**The brown hair, the green eyes. The way Payge was acting around me. The two girls Josh was talking about. It all made sense. **_

"_**Lucas?" **_


	5. Chapter 5: Apologies

**_Hi OMG. It's legit been 2 months since I've updated Im so sorry. I had school and personal issues and then I was going to update but I had to study for exams. Now Im finally on summer break and I can update all this summer. So sorry about that but Im back now. Anyways welcome back to the 5th chapter of Reunited. Not going to tell you what the chapter is about because you'll see in a minute but I do want you to know that some of the parts of the story is sexual. If you have a trigger to sexual talk or scenes you can skip over it. But its not that sexual. Ill update soon and I cant wait for you to read the rest. Fav, Review, and Follow. Xoxo. _**

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**Riley's POV**

Today felt different. It felt like everything in my life had changed in a day. I had so many questions. I was angry, but I knew I couldn't blame anyone. I told them not to tell me anything. I just wish they had told me this one. _**Lucas's had a daughter. Lily. And the mother was Payge.**_ I couldn't wrap that around my mind. I didn't want to think about but it's all I could think about. _**He had produced with another woman.**_ A woman that wasn't _**me. **_He had found someone else too. What if they weren't even dating, what if they were already married. I mean they did have a baby together...they must be really serious.

Daniel had been bothering me the whole night asking me if I was okay. He didn't know much but he did know I just found out my ex had a kid. I know he was a little upset. He didn't want me to be upset about someone else having a baby since I was with him but I couldn't help it, and I loved him for understanding.

s"I know you're awake." I poked him.

Daniel was a light sleeper. He wakes up every time he feels me slipping out of his arms, but instead of telling me he's awake he always pretends to be asleep to see if I'm going to do anything he doesn't know about.

"I am awake." He finally opened his eyes and smiled.

I rolled my eyes, "Stop watching me wake up without saying anything."

He let out a sleepy laugh, "Sorry." He said stretching then looking at the clock, "Really? It's 5 am, come back to bed Riley."

"I can't sleep." I shrugged, "and besides I have a busy day. I should get ready." I told him.

Today I had a meeting. Not about the wedding...but about friendship. Everyone still noticed there was tension between Me, Maya and Lucas so Josh set up a meeting for us to make up. Farkle and Zay were joining. They were my best friends back then too so they were apart of it. Sadly, Payge was joining us too. Josh wanted to make sure there wasn't going to be any tension between Payge and I. Another person that was coming was Daniel. Josh wanted to make sure he was welcomed by everyone as well. I knew this meeting wasn't going to work but it was worth a try.

"Babe. That meeting starts at 2 pm. Just come back to bed."

He was right. It did start at 2 pm. I was just making excuses not to come back to bed.

"Fine." I said as I laid back down beside him, "But I can't sleep so I guess I'll just watch you fall asleep."

"I can't fall asleep unless you fall asleep."

I let out a sigh, "Then let's just go watch a movie in the living room." I suggested trying to get up, but he grabbed my hand.

"I know something else we could do." He told me.

I sat back down, "What?"

I had no idea what he was talking about until he begin kissing me while reaching to grab my ass. He wanted to have sex.

"Daniel." I pulled out of the kiss, "My parents and brother are in the other room." I told him.

He put on a confused look, "Um So?"

"Um so? So we can't have sex."

"Riley, do you know how many times we've had sex while your parents were home? What's so different now? Because we're in America and not Canada? We sneak around all the time."

"Yeah...you're right…"

"Soooo, can we have sex?"

"Yes."I nodded.

He smiled getting on top of me before leaning in to kiss me. He kissed down my neck as he pulled off my purple tank top, revealing my bare chest. He then slowly started kissing down my chest, stopping at the hem of my underwear before taking them off. I was uncomfortable. Not because of Daniel. But because of where it was. Lucas and I had our first time in this room. On this bed. It felt weird having sex with someone else on the same bed while thinking of him and our first time.

It brought back memories. I remember that day like it was yesterday. It all started in his car. It was Saturday, late at night. We had just come back from the movie theaters. He asked me if he could come to my house for a while before going home. At the time Lucas and I had been dating for two years. He was 17, I was 16. Usually, in our high school, relationships and sex were a common thing. My friends weren't virgins. I was aware I was probably the only virgin in my friend group but I didn't care, I had never seen Lucas in a _**sexual way**_...until that night.

I had no idea Lucas was hinting at sex until I started putting the pieces together. _**My parents weren't home, instead of wanting to sit in the living room he wanted to go in my bedroom, and every time he kissed me he would travel down to my neck and grab my thigh.**_ When I asked him what he was trying to do and he replied with "_**make love"**_. That's when we had our _**first time.**_

Our first time was definitely something I admired. _**He was soft and sweet**_. Made sure I was okay. I'm going to admit it hurt _**but that was the first time I had ever felt pleasure.**_ And now thinking about it brought back things _**I didn't want to think about and things I couldn't think about even if I wanted to.**_

"Daniel…"

"Yeah."

"I wanna stop," I told him. He stopped his rhythm as he looked at me, "What's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing…" I lied, "I'm just not really

feeling it. I'm not really in the mood for sex."

"Why? Are you not liking it? Do you want me to go faster?"

"No, it's not that you're not pleasuring me I just don't want to have sex."

"Oh…Okay." With that, he got off the top of me and laid beside me.

"I'm sorry. Another time okay?" I told him.

"Okay." He tried to put on a smile. I could tell he was disappointed but I'm glad he understood.

After the awkward talk, we had fallen back to sleep. We didn't wake up until about 12 am and that's when we started to get ready.

"Good morning Riley, good morning Daniel." My mother greeted us as we walked out into the kitchen for lunch.

"Good morning." We greeted back as we sat down.

"You guys missed breakfast. We had blueberry pancakes. Your favorite." She reminded me.  
I nodded and put on a pretend sad look, "Bummer."

"Sorry. Here's your cereal." She each gave us a bowl. We started to eat.

"So...Are you guys ready for your meeting?" My mother asked us.

"Yeah." I simply responded.

"I'm so happy you guys are all working this out, Riley. I know how much they mean to you and I know how much you miss them."

I sighed, "Yeah me too."

"Good luck guys. I love you both." And with that, she walked away. After we were done eating we headed to Josh and Maya home. As we pulled up Josh wasn't waiting outside for me like he usually did so I assumed that there were no surprises today. It made me nervous that he didn't come outside. I needed a warning about what was going to happen. A clue if they all _**forgave me or not. I had no idea where we stood.**_

Daniel smirked at me as we got out of the car, "You ready?"

"Yeah...are you?" I questioned him walking up the steps.

"Yup. Let's just get this over with." He said ringing the doorbell.

Josh appeared in front of us, "Hey." He greeted both of us, "Come in. Everyone's at the dining table waiting."

I walked in following behind him. He was right. Everyone was at the dining table. Everyone fell silent as soon as we walked in. I quickly found a seat next to Josh, Daniel right behind me. I looked at my phone. It was 1:50. The meeting started at 2. Why was everyone here already? I was thinking they had another meeting without me and Daniel before they had a meeting with us.

"So. You guys don't usually take me seriously but we need to be serious today. I need you all to listen. I'm getting married soon. I don't want drama to be involved in the actual wedding nor in the wedding planning process...so today we're going to solve some things." Josh looked around the table, "We all know the problem, and why everyone is upset. Riley kind of..shut all of you out from her life."

I bit my lip as I saw everyone turn to me out of the corner of my eye.

"Let's start with you, Riley." He turned towards me.

"Fuck," I mumbled under my breath.

"Why did you cut them out of your life once you left for Canada?"

I took a deep breath before I spoke. Wondering whether or not if I should turn and look at them and talk or whether I should look down, "When I chose to move to Canada with my mom, everyone was hurt by my decision...some of you thought you weren't important to me just because I chose to move away when I had the chance to stay which was false...You all were important to me. And trust me...I was hurt too. I loved you guys...but I also loved my mom. When I got to Canada...my studies took up all of my time, your studies took up your time as well so when we got into little arguments about us not talking anymore or splitting apart or I don't know...how long distant relationships were breaking us...it stressed me out and it put a drain on my mental health. Nothing was the same. It was nothing like it was in New York. All of our relationships had taken a different turn. I was depressed for months at that point and I wasn't focusing on my school work. That's when I decided that it was best for us to go our separate ways. When I told you guys that you weren't taking me seriously. You guys thought it was a joke or that I was being dramatic. You guys told me it would get better and it didn't. You guys wouldn't let me go. So I had no choice but to cut you guys off...for my health...completely."

I looked at all of them to see their reactions. They were all just staring at me. Finally, they snapped out of their trance.

"Thank you, Riley. I understand where you're coming from. You wanted to focus on your school work, and you didn't like the long distance. You had to do what you had to do. Understandable. Does anyone have anything to say about that?" Josh asked.

No one said anything.

"Okay so let's continue. Farkle and Zay. How do you feel about Riley?" Josh asked them.

I looked over to them.

"We both forgive her. I understand why she felt that way. We're over it now at this point and hope everyone is too." Farkle said. Zay nodded along with him. I smiled at them.

Josh nodded, "Maya…"

I took a huge breath in not knowing what was about to happen.

"You hurt me but I forgive you...for the sake of my wedding. But me forgiving doesn't mean we're friends. I will never forget that you dropped me. We can talk sure, but we'll never be anywhere near as close as we used to be." She looked me dead in the eyes then looked away.

Josh sighed and shook his head, "Lucas?"

"Yeah what Maya said." Lucas looked away uninterested.

"Yeah no. That's not an answer. Tell her how you feel." Josh said.

"I forgive you and I'll talk to you if I have to but I can't be your friend." He told me then looked away.

Josh shook his head again. "Okay. Last thing I'm going to say and then we can wrap this up. There were past relationships. Strong Relationships."

I looked at Lucas. He looked back at me but then slowly looked away.

"But those relationships don't exist anymore. There are now new relationships. And I'm talking about Riley and Daniel and Lucas and Payge. I don't care what drama you guys had. Lucas and anyone else will respect Daniel. Daniel and anyone else you will respect Lucas. Payge and anyone else will respect Riley and Riley and anyone else you will respect Payge. Got it?

Everyone nodded.

"Okay good. I'm glad we got this all settled. Now we can all talk to each other without tension. No matter how you feel there will be no tension or negativity...got it?" He asked again,

Everyone nodded again.

"Good."

Everyone started to get up from the dining table as the meeting was dismissed. I saw Lucas and Maya look at me from the corner of their eye but I didn't say anything. I didn't stare back at them. At least this time it wasn't with disgust, they looked like they wanted to say something to me. I looked at Payge with Lily in her arms. I guess her and Lucas _**were together. **_Lucas had a family now. _**And I wasn't in it. **_ Maya had a family now too. Everyone here was her family. _**I wasn't in that either. **_


	6. Chapter 6: Rivalry

**Hey Everyone! Welcome back to Chapter 6 of Reunited! I'm really sorry. it's been like two months since I've updated. I know I said I was going to update a lot over the summer but I got busy with Drivers Ed and babysitting that I couldn't write. Now I'm back in school and it's my hardest year but I'm still going to update. Please don't give up on me just yet. Anyway I hope you like this chapter and there's more coming soon. Thank you. Review, Fav, Follow.  
**

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**Riley's POV**

200 invitations. 200 fucking invitations. 200 fucking invitations with Lucas. By ourself. In a room.

"Wait what?" Lucas croaked looking at Josh across the table, "Is this a joke?"

I looked between Lucas and Josh, then at everyone else who was sitting at the table hoping Lucas wouldn't make a big scene embarrassing me.

"Lucas don't start. Everyone has been assigned a role to help with the wedding. This is why I told you to pick. You said you didn't care what role you got and now the only people left without a role is you and Riley. Therefore you guys have to make the invitations."

Lucas didn't say anything. He just looked away. My heart finally went back to its normal speed.

Today was a busy day. Everyone was trying to get a bunch of the wedding planning in and since everyone knew what they wanted to do, Lucas and I were stuck making and mailing the wedding invitations. _**Together, and Alone. **_Josh and Maya didn't start planning for their wedding until now. They waited for my family and I and now they're trying to do everything in a rush.

"Can anyone switch with him?" Payge questioned.

I rolled my eyes. Of course she says something.

"No. Everyone's roles are final. Come on y'all. Be adults. Anyways it's already 3 pm. Let's get started. Cory, Mom, Dad, Zay, Jade, and Shawn, come with me. Katy, Topanga, Zay, Smackle, and Payge go with Maya. Lucas show Riley where the office space is and basically there's a website where you create wedding invitations and I already have the template of what I want the invitation to say on my computer. Everyone got it?"

Everyone nodded.

"Okay let's go."

Everyone started following behind each other and moving around. Lucas looked at me but didn't say anything as he started heading up the stairs. I follow behind him. He leads me into a blue-colored room. There was a desk, bookshelves, couches, and a table. Lucas closed the door and sat down at the table. I sat down across from him awkwardly.

"Sooo." He said with a raspy voice while trying to clear his throat.

Not knowing what to say, I grabbed one of the sheets off the table, "I guess these are the templates of what he wants us to say on the invitations." I looked at him.

"Yeah." He said with no expression.

I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to do. He was actually talking to me. Not a full conversation but at least he said a word. I wanted to know so much. I wanted to have a deep conversation. I wanted to know what major he graduated in, how _**he met Payge**_, how he felt when he heard he was _**having a daughter**_ and _**if he ever missed me. **_At the same time, I didn't wanna talk. Lucas was so easy to fall in love with back then, and I was afraid I was gonna fall all over again. Sometimes I forgot all about Daniel when the thought of Lucas came to mind. Daniel was around town somewhere probably getting lost. Since he didn't really know Josh or Maya there was no point in him helping with the wedding. But we were having lunch together here. Probably in this room. Probably with Lucas in here. Hopefully, things don't get...weird.

"Look I know you hate me and don't want to talk to me, but let's just get this over with and not make it awkward please. Do it for Maya and Josh." I told him,

He nodded.

"Okay." I nodded as well logging onto the computer and going to the website Josh recommended. Doing this made me more than upset. Maya and I always talked about getting married and having kids back in high school. She joked about marrying Josh, and I joked about marrying Lucas. We loved weddings. The dress shopping, the decorations, the cake picking. Everything about it was beautiful. And I always promised I was going to be there to help her out with everything. From the engagement party to the wedding, to the baby shower. But I was no longer that girl who she was smiling and planning with. It was Payge, her new best friend.

"Okay um…" I tried to shake the thoughts out of my head, "Let's get started. Maya's favorite color is black and blue while Josh's favorite color is blue as well so I'm going to go with a blue-themed color invitation."

He nodded, staring at his phone, not even looking up to me.

"Lucas...you have to help too."

He groaned throwing his phone on the table, "Yes I agree with you. The invitations should be blue." He raised his voice.

I couldn't do this. He was making me feel worse about the situation than I already did.

"I c-can't do this." I sighed trying to get up from the chair.

"Wait." he gripped my arm, "I'm sorry. Don't leave."

I looked down at him. I could see the guilt in his eyes. He was actually sorry. I knew I had to stay. No matter how much I wanted to leave this town because of the tension I knew I had to stay. I sat back down.

"It's okay." I looked at him then back at the computer, "Let's talk about something, and please don't say anything like why you left me and all that."

"What do you want to talk about." He questioned.

I wanted to ask so much. Specifically about him and what he did when I left but I didn't want to start off with just him. I had a question in mind that I had been wondering for weeks and I never got an answer for.

"My uncle Shawn, and Maya's mom...they've been really close, and touchy. What's up with that?" I wondered still designing the invitation on the computer.

"They're dating."

My eyes widened. That's exactly what I expected him to say because that could have only been the possible answer but I need confirmation because it just didn't make sense. Before I left New York, Shawn was around for holidays and traditions but not every day. Plus, they barely knew each other. Everything changed while I was gone.

"How did Maya feel about that?"

_**Maya always wanted a daddy figure in her life.**_ She never showed it because she wasn't the type to show her feelings but we all knew deep inside that it crushed her. _**It would mostly show on events like Father's day when I went out with my dad or the father-daughter dance when she didn't have anyone to dance with.**_ Cory was always there to dance with her though. He saw her as his second daughter. _**She truly was my sister.**_

"I can't answer anything about Maya. You'll have to ask her yourself. She'd hate me if I did."

Of course she would because she still hated me.

"Okay, I understand." I responded, turning the computer towards him, "I think I'm almost done. Do you like the way it looks?" I asked him.

The invitation was blue and had beautiful white floral designs on the side. In the middle stood their names. Maya Hart, and Joshua Matthews in a black cursive font. Under their names stood the date and time of the wedding. Down on the left corner stood the place and street and on the top right corner stood a message, "_**together with our families, we invite you to the wedding of…"  
**_"It looks good." He responded.

"Thanks now I just need to buy 200 of them here online, and I think we have to go pick them up."

"Yeah we do. Let's go."

"Wait right now?"

"Yeah. The shop we're going to is Betty's. She's always there. As soon as you order them online she gets the notification and she starts printing them out right away. Besides we should hurry because we have to put them in the envelope and write all the guests name and address and I don't want to be here all night." He told me.

I nodded and proceeded to follow behind him. We walked down the stairs and everyone was in their groups looking at their computers. They were rowdy, yelling at each other with different ideas. I followed Lucas out the door. My stomach started to sink because I knew exactly where we were walking. _**The Black Drop Top Mercedes Benz. **_ He unlocked the doors and got in. I got in right after him. I hadn't touched these seats in 4 years. Being in this car every day during high school was a dream. And now all of the memories are starting to pile up. I could tell he felt uncomfortable as well. It looked like he was thinking about something, but he didn't say anything. He just drove off.

"Do you remember our endless trips in this car?" I questioned wondering what he was going to say.

"I try not to."

I sighed and left it at that. The trip was short. We didn't talk. We went in there, got the invitations, and went back to their house, but this time when we pulled up Daniel was waiting outside with bags in his hand.

"Um, Daniel is eating lunch with me here if that's okay," I told him.

"Yeah whatever." He groaned as he got out of the car and walked right past Daniel.

"Yeah hi to you too." Daniel looked at him, "What's his problem? Does he still like you or something and hates me because I'm with you?"

"I don't know. Just ignore him." I told him walking into the house, and going back into the office just to find we had another visitor. Payge. Lily was also there. Lucas sat there, mumbling comforting words before tickling her stomach. I could get jealous, but I wasn't. I couldn't be jealous. That was his daughter and his baby momma. He seemed happy.

"You're so precious." Lucas smiled at hair, caressing her hair.

"Dada. Look." Lily screeched waving her toy around.

I couldn't help but look. Lucas loved kids. Back when we were dating he loved babysitting Auggie with me. You have no idea how happy I was knowing my boyfriend had an amazing bond with my brother. Auggie loved Lucas.

"Let's sit over here," I said snapping out of my trance. Daniel brought steak tacos for lunch. He knows they're my favorite. As much as I loved him and steak tacos, I couldn't help but focus on Lucas and his family.

"Hi Riley." Payge greeted me as she saw me staring over there.

"Hi," I mumbled still chewing on my taco.

"The invitations...could be better." She shrugged holding one up, "I mean it's just basic. You know with the floral designs on the side, and the font. It's kind of small and I think they should have been centered more." She looked at me.

I blinked. Not knowing what to say. Was she really trying to pick a fight with me? For what? Because I was Lucas's ex? Because I was watching Lucas play with his daughter?

"Don't take it to offense or anything."

Lucas looked up at her then back at me. Daniel did the same.

I looked at her, "Don't worry. I didn't take anything to offensive knowing it's simply not your wedding. I asked Josh if he liked them before we printed them out and he said they were perfect. Therefore your opinion doesn't matter." I smiled at her.

"Oh okay, I didn't know you asked Josh." She put on a fake smile back at me.

"Now you do." I smiled even harder.

She smiled back before looking away and rolling her eyes.

Daniel let out a quiet laugh. I couldn't help but to laugh with him.

"Anyways. I guess I should go back to help Maya. Do you think you can keep Lily for the rest of the time? She keeps crying."

"Yeah. I'll keep her. Just give me her bottle and her rocking chair." Lucas told her.

"Okay. I'll see you later." She said smirking at me then bending over to give Lucas as a kiss, while still looking at me.

I rolled my eyes and looked away. Did she understand that this wasn't a competition? I wasn't out to ruin her family or take her man yet she was still being childish.

"So." Daniel turned towards me, "How has making invitations been?" He asked.

I know that's not the question he wanted to ask. He wanted to ask how has making invitations WITH Lucas been. Daniel did not like Lucas. He always tried to be polite when he saw Lucas but Lucas would usually just ignore him. He also didn't like Lucas because he felt like I still had feelings for him,

"Boring you know, but easy. The next task might not be so easy though. We have to mail them now."

"Do you need me to stay, do you need help?"

"N-" no I tried to say but Lucas had already beat me to it. Daniel rolled his eyes, "Alright. I love you babe." He gave me a kiss.

"I love you too." I kissed him back before watching him walk out the door.

It was just me, Lucas, and now Lily. I sat down in front of Lucas where I was before and started putting the invitations in the envelope. Lily looked at me and pointed. I looked at her back. She was adorable.

"Alright. I have to put you down now and work." He said before putting her in her rocking chair. He started putting the invitations in the envelope as well.

"How does it feel?" I questioned. I knew he still had a grudge against me so I didn't know if he wanted to talk about his personal life with me but it was worth a try.  
"How does what feel?" He wondered.

"How does it feel to be a father?"

He smiled while still looking down, "I love her. She's the best thing that has ever happened to me."

I smiled. I bet she was. I've always wanted to have a baby.

"So you were happy when you found out Payge was pregnant?"

He looked at me, "That's a different story."

"Is she your wife?" I wondered.

He laughed, "No."

"Oh...Is she your girlfriend?" I wondered.

He looked at me, "I really don't feel like talking about this stuff right now."

"Okay." I nodded disappointedly.

I wanted to know everything before I left. And it's hard to do that when I know they dont trust me nor like me. I guess Lucas's and Payge's relationship wasn't what I thought it was. But I did want to know what it was. We sat there in complete silence for the rest of the day until we completely finished all of the envelopes.

"Here." I handed them to Josh, "that took more work than I thought it would."

"Thank you guys so much." He thanked me and Lucas.

"Yeah. I'm gonna go home. Lily's really sleepy. Goodnight everyone."

Everyone wished him goodnight. That also made me wonder. Where did Lucas live? With Payge since they were raising a child together? With his parents? Or by himself?

"Riley," Josh called me.

"Yes?" I replied snapping out of my trance.

"A very important wedding planning event is coming up."

"Which is?" I asked.

"Bridesmaid and Groomsmen shopping. I want you to be a bridesmaid"

I looked at him. A bridesmaid?

"I can't do that," I said.

"And why's that?" He asked.

"Because of May-"

"Why is everyone making our wedding about just her like I don't exist?" He raised his voice.

"I didn't mean it li-"

"I know what you meant. Okay, I understand you guys have that drama right now but you're still my niece. She cant pick everything for the wedding. She picked Payge Jade and Smackle as her bridesmaids and we both agreed to Lucas, Zay, and Farkle as our groomsmen but in all honesty, I don't want Payge as a bridesmaid. I never liked her."

My mouth dropped. He knew something about Payge that I didn't.

"I want you to take her spot."

"Why don't you like her?" I asked him.

"She's a horrible mother and a horrible person, and I don't even know why Lucas or Maya associate with her."

"What did she do?"

"I'm not ready to talk about it yet." He told me.

I didn't even know what to ask next.

"Did you talk to Maya about this?"

"Not yet, but I will. Payge and Maya are best friends but still. You're taking her spot. Do you accept?"

"Yes...I do."

There was something about Payge I didn't know. Something so bad that Josh didn't even like her, and Josh likes everyone. Something Lucas and Maya didn't know either. Something so bad that Josh didn't want to speak on it yet. But I was gonna find out sooner or later, and when I did, we'll see whos the hated one.


	7. Chapter 7: Kimberly

**Hey** **Yall! Welcome back to chapter 7 of Reunited. I'm sorry ive been taking so long to update but Im back and Im ready to give you more. Remember if you have any suggestions just pm me or comment them in the review session. I hope you guys are having a wonderful year, and please be patient with me. Review, Fav And Follow!**

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**Riley's Pov**

It was Saturday. Another day in New York, but this time I was adding another addition to all of the craziness that had already been happening. Inviting her to my uncle's wedding was to be friendly, only because she was my best friend and I wanted her to meet him, but when she told me she wanted to stay and visit me in New York for a few months, I had to say yes. I didn't want to say yes, but I had to or she would've taken it personally. Daniel and my parents thought it was a good idea since I was watching my ex-best friend walk around with my ex-boyfriend's baby momma. I thought it was a horrible idea. _**There was already some rivalry ex vs boyfriend thing with Lucas and Daniel and I didn't want there to be an ex-bff vs bff with Maya and Kimberly.**_ Kimberly was her name. _**Kimberly Acosta**_. Kimberly was...I couldn't explain her. She was a beautiful brunette with blue eyes. _**Some say she was a clone of Maya but brunette instead of blonde. **_I didn't think so. I didn't want people thinking I was trying to replace Maya with someone like her. _**After becoming close with her I did realize she was exactly like Maya.**_ Always wore some kind of jacket and boots, sarcastic, mean but kind, and she had family issues. They did differ in some ways. Maya could be reckless, but I'm going to admit Kimberly was more reckless. She almost got kicked out of university for riding her motorcycle through the north hall.

"She's here." Daniel waited by the door. I walked over to him and opened the door. There she was. Looking the same as usual. Black leather jacket, black ripped jeans, and black boots.

"Hey!" I grinned pulling her into a hug.

"Riley!" She hugged back.

If I'm being honest I wasn't all happy to see her. I mean I only left Canada a few months ago, and I was always either with her or Daniel. Not only that, I knew she would wanna come along and meet new people during the wedding planning. She wanted to start drama with Maya. I texted her a couple of times about how they treated me now that I was back in New York and she was really defensive about it. I also know she wanted to prove that she wasn't a clone of anyone and that she was better than Maya. I begged and begged for her not to say anything and she said she wouldn't but we both knew that wasn't true.

"Hey." Daniel waved at her.

"Hey…" Kimberly waved back.

Another important thing I left out..._**Daniel used to be in love with Kimberly. **_Before he and I got together he liked Kimberly for YEARS. People thought I was dumb for letting them be around each other or being best friends with Kimberly since I was with Daniel but I trusted them. I started dating Daniel first, then I met Kimberly. She had no idea we were dating until she saw us holding hands but she didn't say anything until about 5 months into our friendship. I wasn't just going to drop her, I couldn't. She was the only person I had a really strong connection with. They were the only ones that were there for me and I wasn't going to let the past get in the way of it. If Im being honest I did worry sometimes. They dressed exactly the same, and they were into the same stuff. They bonded easily. Also, If it's in the past why are they still so awkward around each other? It's something I thought about sometimes but barley. I never knew what happened between them because I didn't ask but sometimes I did wonder if they ever hooked up or anything.

"I missed you...literally so much. I know you've been gone for only like 3 months but you're my best friend and I dont really like anyone else so I was lonely most of the time."

I didn't want her here but I did miss her. Being around people that didn't like me was more than exhausting.

"Yeah, I feel you." I told her, "Give me your bags. Come in." I picked up the bags and carried her suitcases into the guest room.

"Is this where I'm staying? I thought Daniel had the guest room." She looked at me with a confused look.

"No, he sleeps in my bed."

She had a smirk on her face, "I bet it gets busy in there sometimes."

"No sadly." He rolled his eyes.

I punched him, "Shush."

"Your apartment is nice Riley. It's really different from your apartment in Canada."

She was completely correct. My apartment in Canada was way more expensive than my apartment in New York. Since my mom made more money there she decided to spend more money.

"Yeah. It's less luxurious but I still love it."

"How does it feel being in your hometown again? Do you like it better than Canada?"

In all honesty, I didn't know the answer to that question right now. I didn't know if I liked my new life more or my old life.

"Um, I'm not sure. It definitely feels good to be in the home I grew up in though."

"I bet."

I nodded.

"I'll be right back. I'm gonna go to your mom's old shop. I want another donut." He pecked me on the cheek before leaving off.

"Bye...I guess."

He was acting weird and I wasn't sure why.

"Um...wanna see my room?" I asked her.

"Sure."

We walked from the guest room and into my room. As soon as we entered, she made a disgusted look.

"Pink...literally everywhere."

I laughed, "I know."

"Where's the black. That's the prettiest color of all time."

"My favorite color is not black Kimberly." I laughed again.

"I see..no offensive but the only thing I like in this room is that window over there." She said sitting down and opening the curtains, "It has such a beautiful view."

"Yup…" I said awkwardly. Of course, she was talking about the Bay Window. The place Maya and I sat together every day before school and after. Where we shared our greatest secrets, had our mental breakdowns, and literally talked about anything and everything. I didn't pay the Bay Window any mind when I came back to New York. I havent sat there in years, and I wasn't going to until Maya sat there with me.

"So are you doing any wedding planning today?" She asked me.

"Nope."

"Ugh well show me around New York, invite your friends over or something, I wanna meet your uncle, come on let's do something you're being so dry." She told me.

I sighed, "I'm sorry. I'm just out of it today. I'll show you around New York, let's go out for dinner. What do you wanna eat?" I asked her.

"A juicy burger and crispy fries."

"I know the perfect restaurant for that," I told her.

"Okay, what about your old friends and your uncle. Can they come with us?" She put on a smile.

"You can meet my uncle soon, but as for the old friends, you'll have to wait until the Halloween party. I am not randomly bringing you to meet them when I'm barley cool with them."

It was October, which meant my favorite three months were here. The gang was going all out this year for the holidays since Josh and Maya were getting married and planning on a baby. They were having a huge Halloween party and going to some haunted house together. Of course, I had to come and I was planning on bringing Daniel and Kimberly with me.

"Riley. That's all the way at the end of the month."

"I know...but that gives me time to think and calm down anyway. If I'm being honest with you I'm not ready for you to meet them yet."

"Is it really that bad?" She questioned.

I nodded.

"Okay, then I'll wait. I'm always here for you, you know that girl."

"I know."

"Okay let's eat then. Lead me the way."

We went to go have dinner together at some bar around the street. In about three weeks, she was meeting everyone. I tried to convince myself that I was overreacting but after coming back to reality and realizing how they actually treated me I knew what was going to happen. I just had to survive the Halloween night without any drama...hopefully.


	8. Chapter 8: Bridesmaids and Groomsmen

**HI! It's been a long ass time omg. I'm so sorry I was so inactive. I had so much going on in real life and I just didn't have enough time and also my computer broke but I just got another computer for Christmas. By the way, Merry Christmas, and I hope everyone had a good one. In the story we're behind. We're all the way by Halloween so don't be confused lmao. I'm going to try to be more active, but for the time being welcome back to Chapter 8 of Reunited. I had a hard time writing this chapter and it's not as good or important but the storyline is getting there. Enjoy. Review, Fav, and Follow.**

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**Joshua's POV**

The never-ending feud between my fiancee and my niece was more than too much for me. Maya was the woman I fell in love with, the woman I'm about to spend the rest of my life with, but Riley was family, the woman I've known since she was born. They're both important to me and I didn't want to pick sides. I know Riley and Maya had drama but since Riley was my niece I wanted her to be one of the bridesmaids. When I told Maya, she reacted badly at first, but she came around.

***Flashback***

"**Can I talk to you about something Maya?" I asked.**

"**Yeah, of course, what is it, babe?" **

"**I want Riley to be a bridesmaid." **

**She seemed kinda taken aback but quickly fixed her facial expression.**

"**I understand you guys have drama, but Maya...It's my wedding too, and she's my niece."**

"**Okay but there's only three bridesmaids. Smackle, Jade and Payge, we can't have four bridesmaids." **

"**I know...that's why we should remove Payge."**

"**WHAT? NO. NO JOSH. NO WAY." She screamed in panic walking away from me.**

"**Calm down Maya. My parents, Topanga, Cory, Shawn, and so many more people want Riley as a bridesmaid, and the most important one is me. I want Riley as a bridesmaid." **

"**Josh...It's not fair. She's my best friend, she's supposed to walk through the wedding with me." **

**I didn't like Payge. At all. I knew something no one else knew and once I did tell them no one would want to be involved with Payge in any way. I was just afraid to tell them what happened. Now I see that the time is ticking, and I needed to tell her eventually. **

"**I understand that, but you have all your other best friends too. The ones you knew before you met Payge. They're important to you too, but Riley is important to me, and I know she wants to be a bridesmaid, she was afraid to say something because of the drama, but I already talked it out with her."**

**Maya sighed and rolled her eyes, "Josh this is my wedding. The only wedding I'm ever going to have."**

"**Come on babe. We have our dream wedding. Don't let this one thing make you upset." I said taking her hands. **

**She smiled then rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, "Fine, but she's not my maid of honor, Jade will be." **

"**That's fine, I just want her to be a part of this at least."**

"**Ugh, Payge is going to hate me for this."**

"**She won't. She'll understand." **

***End Of Flashback***

Now here we were. In the middle of the clothing store. Maya, Payge, Cory, Shawn and Lucas on one side of the store, and Riley by herself on the other. Smackle, Farkle, Zay and Jade were somewhere while Katy, Topanga, my mom and dad were roaming around together. We took up the whole dress store. Today we were shopping for the Bridesmaids dresses and the Groomsmens suits. I was fine with everyone else shopping together but I was uneasy with Maya, Payge and Riley shopping together. Payge reacted badly when she found out she wasn't a bridesmaid anymore, but I didn't care. I just needed everything to run smoothly. I called them over. I needed to talk to them. They came, and I could already see the negativity between them. Payge gave Riley dirty looks while Riley just looked at the ground. Maya rolled her eyes.

"I have a question. For all of you." I said.

"What?" They all asked.

"How do you think this makes me feel? Having to be in a never ending war between my niece and my fiance? You guys don't feel bad at all do you?"

"Of course I feel bad Josh, thats why Im trying to become her friend." Riley said.

"And of course I feel bad Babe that's why I'm just trying to ignore her."

At this point I just wanted them to become friends. I couldn't make Maya become friends with Riley, but I really wished she wanted to.

"Okay whatever you guys. Just at least and please come to an agreement together for the bridesmaids and groomsmens dress wear. I know it's your decision Maya but it's good to listen to everyone's opinion...and you Payge. Keep your dirty looks to yourself." I told them.

"It's hard to when she took my spot in being a bridesmaid. Like I don't even understand you Josh."

I get that kicking my fiance's best friend out of our own wedding was extreme but not for Payge. Payge wasn't Maya's real best friend so I had no idea why Payge was making a big scene. She knew what she did.

"Payge." I looked at her with a serious face.

She rolled her eyes, "Whatever you say Josh."

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**Riley's POV**

Here I was. In the middle of a dress wear shop feeling completely useless, feeling like I didn't belong and I didnt. I get that Josh wanted me as his niece to be his bridesmaid but damn, I didn't feel like anyone else wanted me here. In reality I knew they did. Zay, Farkle, Smackle and Jade welcomed me with open arms and always checked to see if I was alright. It felt good, but it wasn't enough knowing I was hated by the actual bride. I did feel bad for Josh. I didn't want him to make any decisions with me to ruin his relationship at all, but he didn't care because of some situation that happened between him and Payge.

"Do you know what colors the dresses are going to be Riley?" Smackle asked me.

"Navy blue I believe, and the suits are black with a navy blue bow or tie." I told her.

"Okay thanks." She smiled walking away.

Everyone else were in groups and I was the only one alone. Everything about this was ridiculous. I could tell Maya was struggling over there with Payge and that's because _**Payge didn't know her.**_ I could tell they weren't really best friends. She kept trying to suggest Maya these short bridesmaid dresses which were completely hideous. They had no lace and they were sleeve length which Maya hated for just regular dresses. They weren't even navy blue, they were a mix of blue and it came to the suit and tie she kept trying to get white and grey tuxedos instead of black. _**I knew that Maya and I also knew her dream wedding dress.**_ A tight mermaid lace long sleeved off the shoulder dress with a some cleavage. _**She used to tell me that all the time when we were best friends and she even said it before we came here**_. I guess Payge forgot already. I know she would want her bridesmaids to match with her wedding dress but just a little less formal. So I looked around for a navy blue dress with lace, but no sleeves.

I looked around at everyone including them. They were still having trouble finding their outfits but I had come across a bridesmaid dress I knew she'd love. It was navy blue with lace and no sleeves like I had said but it had a slit in the front and it was a tight dress.

"Maya." I nervously called. They both turned around at me awkwardly.

"Do you like this dress?" I asked walking up to her.

"No that's ugly as hell." Payge said.

She looked at me. I couldn't tell what kind of expression she was giving me. It wasn't a mean look nor was it a happy look.

"Let's go Maya." Payge tried pulling her away but Maya didn't move.

She looked at the dress, then at me again then at Payge, "Actually um…"

"Um what?"

"This is actually the type of dress I was looking for Payge."

She scoffed, "After all of the dresses I showed you, you choose this one?"

"It's perfect." Maya smiled taking the dress from me.

"Good work Riley…" She awkwardly said, "Thank you."

I smiled. "Yeah of course."

Payge rolled her eyes and stormed off, Maya behind her trying to talk to her. I knew she would love it, and I knew Payge would hate me for it but she already did before anyway. For the first time, I felt good about Maya. Maybe she hated me less now, but the way she looked at me..._**I wish I knew what it meant. **_

By the time we were done finding the groomsmen tuxedos, which I also picked out for Maya, it was time to leave.

"So I heard you were a big help today." Josh whispered to me.

"Yeah...I guess."  
"Good and also thanks because I like the outfits myself." He smiled at me.

"Yeah no problem. I just hope she's more friendly with me now."

"Me too, but remember don't get discouraged. One step at a time."

I nodded, and he wanked off. I knew that just because I found Maya a good dress didn't mean she automatically liked me, so I wasn't sure why I was so happy. I knew I wasn't gonna feel like this soon. Halloween was coming up...which meant everyone was meeting Kimberly, including her. I just hoped things stayed as calm as they are now...but I knew that wasn't going to happen.


	9. Chapter 9: Halloween

_**Hi guys! Welcome back to Chapter 9 of Reunited! Please excuse any spelling or grammar mistakes in this chapter, I kind of rushed through it but I still think it's a very good chapter. I deleted this chapter about two days ago because I got a really bad review, and the reviewer kind of missed a point I was trying to prove in this chapter so If you already read this chapter the only thing that changed is that they are now alone instead of in front of all the guests. I hope this chapter doesnt make anyone mad! That's not the point. Alot friendship are about to be changed after this chapter so I really hope you enjoy it! Review, Fav, and Follow.**_

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**Riley's POV**

We were adults. Young adults. I'm not sure what I was expecting but I definitely wasn't expecting this. I was expecting the crazy costumes we had every halloween growing up. Like being a nerd, arthur, dora, a crayon, a police officer. All the silly things, but now I guess since we were adults they wanted to dress a little differently. ALOT differently.

"I look fucking ridiculous." Daniel asserted standing in the mirror.

"You think you look ridiculous? Look at me. What the hell is this Riley." Kimberly bickered turning to me. Daniel doing the same, "I don't wanna be this."

I sighed in frustration, "Guys. It's just a costume. You only have to wear it once for the rest of the night and that's it okay? Stop being so dramatic."

"Dramatic? First of all, I feel like a slut. This dress is barely covering my ass and my boobs are all the way out. Second of all these are some tall ass heels and I get its apart of the outfit but I dont think Im able to walk the whole night with these shoes, and third of all I dont have anyone to go with so its just unfair and stupid."

"And I look 12. Who even wears superhero costumes." Daniel shook his head.

The theme of the Hallwoeen costumes were superheros. Daniel and I were Iron Man and Iron Woman. Maya and Josh were Batman and Batwoman, Lucas and Payge were Spiderman and Spiderwoman, Smackle and Farkle were Captain America and Woman Captain America, Zay and Jade were Catwoman and Catman and Kimberly was just a girl version of Thor, Lady Thor. My family thought it was a great idea to invite them and so did Josh so I did, but they wanted them to fit in with everyone else so they gave us costumes to wear which they had to wear because we were going to be taking so many group photos and pictures. But of course there was some sort of problem.

"What the hell is wrong with you guys. You both beg me to come on this trip with me and when you do you guys don't want to participate in any family activities. I already fucking look bad because I left them and if you guys show up with no costumes I'm going to look even worse."

We were already at the party. I had been stuck in the bathroom with these two for over 20 minutes. Everyone was outside having fun and dancing in their costumes except for us. We had to get out there sooner or later or they were gonna become suspicious. We also had to take photos. Daniel and Kimberly had made so many things harder for me since they came and the least they could do was put on this costume and shut up.

"Riley why do you care so much about what these people do or how they see you? They aren't even your friends and we're leaving in a few months." Daniel grunted.

"Yeah, what he said." Kimberly agreed putting her hands on her hips.

I took a deep breath in and out not trying to lose my mind. Daniel has never been this unsupportive. He always understood me and was always there for me when I needed him. Now he complains about everything and he doesn't understand shit.

"Okay leave." I told them.

"Leave where?"

"Leave fucking New York. Go back home and don't fucking text me or call me. Dont check up on me, dont worry about me and dont try to fucking talk to me because if you dont care now then you shouldnt care when youre gone either. So leave."

They stood there speechless, looking at each other then looking back at me.

"Okay we're sorry. We'll put on the costumes."

"Yeah. That's what I thought." I rolled my eyes and looked in the mirror. I had to admit it was really revealing. My whole chest was covered but my ass to my legs were fully exposed. I had a lot of insecurities but surprisingly I felt confident in this. In Canada, I joined a lot of gym memberships so my body was very sculpted which was good because I'm not as skinny as I used to be. I have more of thicker look.

"We're cute." I smiled standing next to Daniel, in our matching costumes, "You look good too Kimberly. Are you guys ready to go now?" I asked them both.

They nodded and we walked out of the bathroom. Maya and Josh must've had a lot of friends because this house was packed. I knew none of these people, but I could spot out some people from high school. Some looked the same and some looked completely different. I knew they could spot me from a mile away so I tried not to make eye contact with anyone. I did see the group standing outside in the back by the patio.

"Okay. Daniel you already met them so you know how they act but Kimberly...The rest of the family is going to be nice to you but please ignore Maya and Payge. I already know they're going to try to be petty."

She looked at me and laughed, "Sure Riley. I'm totally going to let someone talk shit about me and not defend myself."

I sighed, "That's not what I'm trying to say. Just don't start drama with the bride, now come on." I said walking them over to the family, "Hey everyone."

They all greeted back at me, except for Lucas, Maya, and Payge.

"This is Kimberly. My best friend. She's lady thor." I told them.

"Yuppp." She faked smile holding up her Thor hammer, "Nice to meet you all."

"Wow. You look more intimidating in person than you did on facetime." Josh joked around with her.

"Hi Josh." She laughed and hugged him, "Congratulations."

"Thank you Kimberly." He smiled at her.

You could hear Maya let out a rude grunt and Payge laughing.

"Awww look. She tried to replace you." Payge said.

"Oh my god." Josh whispered.

I looked at her and shook my head. She smiled back, "Anyway."

I knew picking out her dresses wasn't going to be enough for her to like me or at least respect me.

"Let's just take the picture." Josh said.

We all lined up. Smallest in the front, tallest in the back. I really didn't want to be in the picture, and I hated it. At this point I was tired of Maya and Payge. I understand what I did was wrong, but this is MY family. The only people I wasn't really related to was Katy, Smackle, Jade, Zay, and Farkle. Everyone else was literally my family, and I missed them. My time with them is being ruined and I'm always uncomfortable around them just because of the drama and I had enough of it.

"Everyone say cheese!" The photographer said to us.

I smiled and then right after I whispered to Kimberly, "Forget what I said earlier. You don't have to be nice. It's game on."

Kimberly smirked at me, "Finally. If they want to be petty, we can be petty."

After what felt like an hour of taking photos with everyone, me and Kimberly went to go get a drink. I had a real bad problem with alcohol. I wasn't an alcoholic or anything but when I was anxious or stressed, I drank a lot.

"Slow down Riley damn. That's like your third shot."

"Yup well this is like the 100th time they've made my life miserable," I frowned looking over to them. They just stood there looking at us. I could tell Maya was trying to avoid us but Payge just kept pushing it. She WANTED problems.  
"Ignore them...for NOW. Trust me well get them back. Let's have fun. Let's talk." Kimberly patted my back.

"Okay."

"So...Where's Lucas."

My heart dropped when she said that. I had honestly forgotten all about Lucas, which was a good thing because he stressed me out as well. I hadn't even seen him.

"He's actually kind of distant...from like everyone I noticed. He doesn't talk much, and honestly it's probably because I've been around."

"Does he ignore you or I don't know disrespect you?" She asked me.

"Um, no not really. We talked while we were making their wedding invitations. He doesn't really like me but he doesn't completely hate me. I hurt him and I feel really bad."

I wanted to see Lucas but at the same time I didnt...but then again I did._** I wanted him to see me in this costume.**_ I wanted to know what he thought about it, but I knew I couldn't want that so I pushed those thoughts away.

She sighed at me, "It's okay. Don't punish yourself forever for it...Does he really have a kid?"

"Yup with Payge."

She slammed her drink down and looked at me in disbelief. I totally forgot to tell her Payge and Lucas had something.

"WHAT?!"

"Yup."

"Wait wait wait. So not only does she dislike you because you're Maya's old best friend but you're also Lucas's ex girlfriend. Wow, and this whole time she thinks I'm a replacement yet Maya replaced you. You were her best friend and you were dating Lucas and now Payge is her best friend and she's dating Lucas."

"Yeah I know. They are hypocrites."

I sat there, looking around for Lucas, then I looked back at Maya. _**Why would she let that happen?**_ I don't wanna sound crazy or anything but why would she replace me in that kind of way. _**They had a whole kid together.**_ I understand that I left but it was still so hard to process. _**Payge doesn't even seem like a girl Lucas would like. She's so mean. If anything she probably made Lucas worse. Lucas always needed someone there to show him who he really was and not the type of person he was when he was mad.**_ I wonder how he was with that type of negative influence around him. She doesn't even seem like a mother. She's so immature and childish. I know it wasn't under Maya's control but if they did talk about having a baby with her...why did she let them make that decision.

I couldn't keep doing this. I couldn't just keep sitting around trying to ignore the situation. I wanted to talk to Lucas, I needed to talk to Lucas. I wanted to talk to Maya, I needed to talk to Maya. I needed to know what happened when I left. I needed to know if everyone was okay or did shit turn bad. I needed to know something because it was driving me crazy.

"What are you thinking about?" Kimberly asked me.

"Come on." I stood up.

"Umm where are we going." She asked.

She knew exactly where we were going. I could already feel the tension between us as they saw us walking up towards them.

"Hey…" I greeted them.

"Hello." They said awkwardly and confused.

"Maya great party. You throw really great ones." I told her.

"Thank you?" She said with a bit of hesitation in her voice.

It was so difficult to talk to her. I really wish Payge wasn't here because I noticed she acted different around Payge. Payge changed Maya as well. Maya would never change for anyone. She was her own self, and she isn't ashamed of it. Now it seems as if she lets Payge run her.

"I just wanted you to meet Kimberly. She's my best friend. She was the only person who was really there for me when I moved to Canada."

"Hey Maya. Nice to meet you." Kimberly smiled holding out her hand. Maya looked at her hand, but didn't shake it.

"What do you want Riley. Why did you think it was a good idea to bring your fake Maya over here."  
"Ummm who the hell is her fake Maya?" Kimberly quizzed.

"You bitch obviously." Payge stepped in.

Maybe this was a bad idea.

"Who the hell was talking to you, you fucking minion. She doesn't need your help." Kimberly turned to Payge then turned back to Maya, "I'm not a replacement of you, and I have no idea why you think I am."

"I saw what you were wearing before you changed into that costume. You dress just like me, and I also saw what you pulled up in. A motorcycle really?"

Kimberly laughed, "Bitch are you crazy? I don't know you. This is my first time meeting you. How was I supposed to know how you dressed, and okay we have similar style, but please be fucking logical. It's not like I purposely came to America trying to be you."

"You're right." She put on a fake smile and looked at me, "You probably didn't purposely try to come to America looking like me but Riley purposely found a best friend that reminded her of me. You're so fucking obsessed with me Riley."

"WHAT?"

I screamed so loud I didn't know people were starting to watch us.

"Let's go somewhere else and talk before shit starts to get messy." I told her.

"If you're going to be petty then you can say in front of everyone."

"Nope." I said walking away as I started walking up the stairs. They groaned and followed behind me until we were in her and Josh's bedroom.

"What now Riley." She crossed her arms.

"You think I purposely walked around fucking campus looking for someone exactly like you? If anything I would be trying to look for someone who is the opposite of you."

"Oh, is that why you completely cut me out of your fucking life, because you didnt want a best friend like me anymore?" She yelled.

I laughed. This girl just didnt fucking get it. I cut them all out of my life.

I stepped closer to her. Face to face, "I cut you out of my fucking life because of all of the damn pressure you put on me. I was tired of being told it was my fault our friendship was failing. I was tired of being yelled at for wanting to study for an exam instead of face timing you. I FAILED A FUCKING COURSE FOR YOU MAYA. Do you know how expensive it is to retake a course?"

"You-"

"Oh, what are you going to say? Are you going to tell me my family is rich and we can pay for anything? NEWSFLASH MAYA WE"RE NOT. Why do you think we're rich? Do you remember why you think we're rich Maya? OH RIGHT BECAUSE WE PAY FOR EVERY FUCKING THING OF YOURS. WITHOUT ME MAYA, YOU WOULDN'T BE WHERE YOU ARE NOW. Maya, I made my parents fucking rescue you. You couldnt afford food, you couldnt afford clothes, sometimes you didnt even have a fucking placee to stay. WHERE WOULD YOU BE WITHOUT ME? Oh right. Who the hell paid for all your 4 years of college? MY FAMILY."

I felt a strong tug on my arm, "That's enough, stop." Josh pulled on me. His face was extremely red. He was mad. He was embarrassed...but I didn't care.

"No." I swung my arm away from him. I looked back at Maya. I could see tears in her eyes, "I did everything for you and when I make a decision for myself you try to make my life hell. Maya, I was depressed because of the stress everyone had put on me. Everyone told me I needed to try harder, I needed to visit them, I needed to call them. You guys interrupted my college work and made it seem like it wasn't important when I never did that when yall needed to study. So I did what I had to do. Stop fucking making me seem like this bad guy when you put me through so much freshman year of college." I calmed down, and turned around. Lucas had appeared. So did Daniel.

"Riley what the fuck is wrong with you. This is her party and you shame her for having money problems and then make her cry."

I did not fucking shame her.

"What?"

"Okay Im done. Im so fucking done and sick of all this fucking drama between you two. I'll handle you Riley and Maya, but you…" He turned to Payge, "You make everything ten times fucking worse and I know things wouldnt be like this if you werent here, but you influence Maya into being petty and mean, and Im tired of seeing you walk around with my Fiancee like you're trying to protect her from something when you're the fucking problem." He cursed.

I've seen Josh mad. Many times. About losing a girlfriend, about losing a football game or a basketball game, about losing a shooting game on the Xbox, but I've never seen him this angry.

"No Josh. She's my best friend."

"No she's not Maya. She tried to fuck me."

My eyes widened. So did hers. So did everyone else's. I didn't even know what to think. Josh said Payge did something wrong but I didn't think it would be this.

Maya tried to speak but nothing came out.

"He's lying." Payge turned to Maya, "He's lying."

"Maya you know I would never lie to you or try to take someone or something you care about away from you. Payge don't even deny it. Do yourself a favor and just leave."

"If you're talking about the incident that happened when I was drunk then you're fucked up."

"You were sober as fuck, dont even lie. I've seen you drunk, ive seen you tipsy, ive seen you high, i've seen you whatever. You were sober as hell. It was the night we had came back from bowling. Remember you guys went to go grab something to eat? I was tired so I went home. She came too and I didnt mind because she was always over, but she literally tried to hook up with me. She told me I could do better and that you were cheating on me. I knew it wasn't true. You barely even left the house and I knew you loved me. She told me her and Lucas were having problems and she needed a distraction. She kept trying to reach for my pants and she would not keep her hands to herself...but she wasnt drunk. No one drank anything that night."

She tried to cheat on Lucas...I looked back at him. He was red too.

"You tried to betray your best friend after just celebrating with her about getting engaged and you tried to cheat on Lucas after having a baby with him. There's no excuses Payge."

She stood there quietly. She had been caught in a lie. I was no longer angry. I felt so bad for Maya, and I felt so bad for Lucas. Maya was rude to me, but she loved Josh so much and the fact that someone tried to ruin that, someone who she called her best friend was sad. I knew Lucas would do anything for the person he loved. He was the most sweet, charming and romantic guy ever and I know he's a good dad. He didn't deserve her.

"How could you." Maya's voice cracked as more tears slid down her face.

"Maya, Im sorry." Payge apologized.

Maya stepped away from her and turned back to Josh, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I couldn't Maya. You changed when Riley left. You were so heartbroken about not having a best friend. You had me and you had the gang but I know that wasn't the same as having a sister, like a bond you had with Riley. You were so vulnerable and I just couldn't take that away from you. I didn't want you sad. I just couldn't see you sad anymore, it hurt. You were so happy when Payge came into your life. I didn't want to break your heart so I didn't say anything. I'm sorry. Maybe telling you earlier would have hurt less now thinking about it but I was only thinking about you." He took her hand.

"And I'm so sorry Lucas. You're my best friend and I should've told you she tried to cheat on you. But you guys had just started a family and I felt like I was ruining something. I didn't want anything to be complicated between you guys. I didn't want to ruin your family."

Lucas didn't say anything, but I could see the pain in his eyes.

"Luc-"

"Payge, just go home. I'll meet you there."

Payge looked at Maya one more time before she left, "I need to talk to you."

"I don't want to talk to you right now." Maya told her.

"Well whenever you are. You know where I'll be."

And with that she walked off. Josh walked off as well and we followed behind in back down the stairs.

"I'm really sorry everyone. It was a great party and I love all of you, but it's best if we end the party early and send everyone home." He turned around to all of the guests.

The guests wasn't aware of what had happened and couldn't hear us arguing up the stairs because of how loud the music was. All of the sudden I felt like this was my fault.

. If I would've stayed in my seat with Kimberly none of this would've happened. I hate that I embarrassed Josh. I hate I ruined such a special event for them.

Everyone started leaving out, including our family. The only people who were left in the room was me, Josh, Lucas, Maya, Daniel,and Kimberly. Everyone stood there in complete silence. We couldn't even look at each other. Maya was still crying and Josh was trying to calm her down.

"I have to talk to a few people...but Maya and Riley…let's go."

I guess it was officially time to get this shit over with.


	10. Chapter 10: Truth

**HI EVERYONE! I haven't updated in soooo long, and I'm so sorry but school got in the way. Now I'm out of school because of the coronavirus which is btw scary as hell! I hope everyone is staying safe and please stay inside. Besides that welcome back to Chapter 10 of Reunited. I hope everyone likes where this story is going. Keep going with it. Ill update more don't worry. Review, Fav, and Follow. Xoxo**

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**Riley's POV**

A lot of shit happened on Halloween. Relationships were affected. Relationships were questioned. Even though I felt like the situation was my fault, I was no longer a part of it. This was between Maya, Lucas, Josh and Payge. It's been a week since the incident. Things were not solved, and for some reason Josh seemed more tense than usual. You would think he was tense because he was in a fight with his fiancee but something else was bothering him. I could tell, and I could tell he was holding back on something. Josh was supposed to talk to us like he said he would about the drama, but when he tried to Maya broke down even more and said she wasn't ready to talk about anything else. The drama was bad and I wanted to talk about what had happened on Halloween. I didn't want Maya feeling like I was judging her for needing money from my family because that's not what I was trying to say. At all, but I couldn't. Maya was scaring everyone. She did not speak. At all. Not to anyone, not to Josh. not even to her mom. She barely came out of her room, and as for Lucas, I found out a little bit of information I always wanted to know about. _**Lucas and Payge did live together.**_ They had their own apartment with Lily, but now there was a lot of drama going on. Payge moved out to go live with her parents again, but she's trying to take Lily. Lucas isn't letting her and now they're having a custody battle. Payge had found herself a lawyer while my mom was representing Lucas.

"I can't plan anything without her opinion." Jade looked around the room. She was right. They were still planning for the wedding and she still hasn't come downstairs. It wasn't their choice to pick what they wanted in the wedding, it was hers and Josh and they couldn't plan anything without her being there.

"I'll go grab her." Josh sighed running up the stairs.

Everyone worried about their relationship, but I didn't. _**Maya would never give Josh up that easily after being in love with him for years**_, she was just sad and everyone has those low moments in life.

They came back down the stairs, Maya by his side.

"Hey!" Everyone greeted her with a smile. Even though everyone was happy to see her I knew there was a lot of tension in the room.

"Hi." She blubbered. I looked at her and for a second she looked back at me then back down.

"Okay Maya. We're kind of behind...on a lot of stuff. Soon you're going to pick your wedding dress but after that you need to pick your cake design, you need to book more vendors, finalize your venue, get your marriage license, plan your honeymoon and just so much more."

"Okay and we will get to it. We have enough time, why is everyone rushing ?"

"We don't when you really think about it but we can get at least two things done today."

"I don't feel up to it right now guys. I think you should just go home."

They sighed and nodded.

"Feel better," Jade said while hugging her, and with that they all walked out. Left in the room was just me, Lucas, Josh and Maya. I couldn't leave because Josh was my ride.

* * *

**Josh's POV**

I truly don't believe what I did was wrong. I couldn't read Maya's mind and she wouldn't tell me what she was thinking. I didn't know if it was because she had just lost her best friend or she felt betrayed by me. I did it for a reason and I did it to protect her. To protect everyone. When Riley left, it was a very sad time. Shit was hard. It wasn't one of those petty friendship fights where one person cuts another person off and they pretend not to give a fuck. It was deeper than that. Riley was a girl who formed their friend group. She was their puzzle piece and when she left, things fell apart. Zay and Farkle were sad but they weren't as sad as Lucas and Maya.

"Maya." I took her hand.

"Yes."

"Come on. Let's sit on the porch for a while okay?"

"Okay." She groaned realizing I was obviously going to talk to her about how she was feeling. We both took a sweater and walked outside. We sat down on the chairs outside. This was our favorite talking place, literally. We had breakfast out here sometimes and sometimes we would just listen to music and watch the sunset.

"Do you still want to marry me?" I asked.

She looked into my eyes and a frown came upon her face, "Why wouldn't I Joshua?"

"You're scaring me. You won't even talk to me."

She sighed and looked away, "I just haven't been in the mood to talk."

"And that's exactly what I feared. Maya, do you remember how broken up Lucas was when Riley left? Do you remember how broken up you were? You weren't as bad as Lucas but damn, I know one more mess up and you'd be in the same place he was. I had to protect you Maya."

Riley left the summer after graduation. The core four walked into college a month later pretending like everything was okay, but honestly Zay and Farkle were only saved by Smackle and Jade. Some people didn't understand why they would let a friendship get them so depressed. Those were the people who had never experienced a real bond. Our close friends and family did though. _**They saw them grow up together, go to every high school event, spend every holiday together.**_ They understood their pain. Maya had been with Riley since diapers. They were made for each other, and to have your other half leave your life like that was unbearable and I could see the pain show through Maya's face every time I visited her. Same for Lucas, but Lucas was worse. Way worse. He fell back into his old ways. _**The ways Riley saved him from in the beginning.**_ I tried to help Lucas but he wouldn't budge. I helped Maya before it was too late but I knew she could fall right back into her depression so I didn't tell her about Payge, I couldn't.

A tear slid down her face, "I just wish you would've told me sooner."

"And I'm sorry that it hurt you but you know that was never my intention. My intention was to keep you happy. Maya, please don't be sad. I mean look around, look at Lucas. He's sad because Payge is trying to take his daughter away from him but not because another girlfriend betrayed him. That's a major improvement and he hasn't gone back to his old ways. Zay and Farkle aren't sad because to be honest Payge never cared or paid attention to anyone except for you. You can always find you another best friend."

"No. I'm done with best friends. Riley left me, I was depressed for months and I couldn't cope. Payge betrayed me and I have panic attacks every time I think about it. I can't keep trying to go out of my way and meet new people. I'm tired of it."

"Then I'll be your best friend. Lucas will. Zay and Farkle will. Jade and Isadora will. You're loved Maya."

She smiled, and that was the first smile I had seen in a week.

"Ugh Maya." I pulled her into a hug.

"Woah." She laughed, "Did you miss me or something I've been sitting right here the whole time."

"I missed your smile," I said softly, bringing her into a kiss.

She kissed me back putting her arms around my neck, "I miss smiling too." she sighed.

I sighed with her.

"Can I tell you something? Something I never really talked about or even tried to think about because I knew it was going to make me upset."

"What is it?" I wondered.

"Payge made me happy...but at the same time, she didn't. I always felt like she was jealous of me or something. She was kind of negative of all the time. I had a feeling she was hiding something, and when she came into my life I noticed the group got a little distant from each other. Like we still hang out with each other and stuff but Payge was horrible at bonding with them and she didn't care to. She just wasn't the missing piece we needed in our friend group."

I caressed her cheek, "I'm sorry Maya."

She shrugged.

"I'm still sad, and I know I will be for a while, but I'll try my best to smile more. Just know I'm always happy with you and that I am extremely and deeply in love with you. Nothing can change that." She expressed.

I smiled, "I'm extremely and deeply in love with you too Maya."

She smiled back and gave me one more kiss before going inside. I had finally talked to Maya about the situation between her and Payge but there were a lot of things that needed to be fixed...starting with her and Riley.


	11. Chapter 11: Thanksgiving

**HIII! Welcome back to chapter 11 of Reunited! This is a long chapter btw and it's also probably the fastest I've ever updated. I hope everyone is staying safe and at home with the virus going on. Please do. Until then read all you want. I really hope you like this chapter! Your reviews mean a lot to me and they motivate me so If you could type one I'd mean a lot. Also I apologize if there's any spelling or grammar mistakes in the chapters. I usually write them at midnight when I'm sleepy lmao. Thank you. Review, Fav and Follow. **

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**Riley's POV**

It was the day before thanksgiving. It was 5 pm. All of the family and friends were over Maya and Josh's to celebrate. We couldn't celebrate on the actual day since everyone had their own individual families, but it was just as special. Today was such a positive day. I actually felt like I belonged there for the first time. Everyone was having a good time. Dancing, cooking, drinking and talking. That's what happened when you got all our families together.

"Put that down!" My mom screamed at Auggie for trying to take a drink.

"Nice try. You're not old enough yet kid." Josh picked up his drink and teased Auggie with it.

We were having a huge Thanksgiving dinner. Our parents were in the kitchen making the food. Surprisingly they didn't want us cooking. The group was sitting down playing Uno. I expected things to be a lot tenser than usual but it wasn't. Things had stayed the same but at the same time things had changed. Maya was sad but not as sad as she was before. We hadn't talked about Halloween even though it was almost a month ago. It feels like the fight was yesterday. I really wanted to talk about it but I wanted to wait until she was ready. She was treating me differently. She and Lucas and I knew it was because I was no longer their main problem. Payge was, and I was just there to be there.

"Draw 4," Smackle smirked.

"Dammit!" Zay shook his head and picked up four cards.

I looked back down at my cards. I actually had a possibility of winning this round. All I had left were two wild cards and a skip. I slapped down my wild card, "The color is green."

"Thanks, Babe." Daniel said as he put down his final card which was a green, "Uno out."

I looked over to him and rolled my eyes, "You couldn't let me win one game?"

"Nope." He laughed kissing me on the cheek.

Hanging out altogether wasn't as intense as I thought it would be. I thought Kimberly and Maya would be at each other's throats but no one said anything to anyone. No dirty looks, not even a side comment. I looked over to Lucas. Even though we aren't close anymore it still hurt to see him sad. He missed Lily and hadn't seen her for almost a month. Payge was keeping her away from him and wouldn't let him see her. She was coming today but only with Payge coming with her too. I don't know what to expect when she does come either.

"Okay I'm done with Uno. We've played like 1000 rounds."

"Same. I'm starving." Farkle said.

We were all tired of playing Uno, and there wasn't much else to do. We had already watched movies and played video games and we couldn't go outside because it was kinda cold.

"Let's see if they're don-"

The doorbell had rung cutting Maya off. Lucas got up quickly and ran to the door. It must have been Lily and Payge.

* * *

**Maya's POV**

"Dada Dada." A little soft voice had burst.

"Lily!" Lucas cried, "I missed you so much."

Every father loves their daughter but _**no one understood how much Lucas loved Lily.**_ Not seeing her would kill him. I remember the day Payge gave birth. I was there and _**I couldn't even explain the look Lucas had on his face when he first held Lily.**_ He didn't deserve to be in this situation. He did more for Lily than Payge ever did. I was mad and I was sad. I was sad because another person I trusted betrayed me but I was mad because of all the hell she was causing.

"Maya!" Kathleen called walking up to me, behind her was her husband Steve. Kathleen was Payge's mom, and Steve was her dad, "I am so sorry. Josh told me what happened because I had a feeling Payge was lying to us about something."

Kathleen and Steve were nothing but nice to me. They always told me I was like their second daughter and that their home was my home. It's confusing how rude and inconsiderate Payge was coming from such caring parents.

"What did she tell you?" I asked.

"She told me you stole a lot of money from her and it put her behind on the bills so we paid them for her, but it didn't sound like something you would do."

I chuckled looking at Payge who was standing in the doorway behind Lily then looked back at her parents, "You're right. That's not something I would do."

Not only did she lie on me but she used her parents so they could pay for her bills.

"I'm so sorry. I don't know why she would try to get with Josh. She always told me she and Lucas were happy!" Her mother panicked.

"It's okay. I don't care about being friends with her. I'm more upset that she's trying to prevent Lucas from seeing Lily."

"I understand, but I do want my granddaughter living with us. If Payge doesn't watch her then Steve and I will. I just think it's what's best for her."

Before I could even say anything Lucas spoke, "You're joking right? Did you just say you think it's what's best for her? You don't think her living with me is good? Have your own kids. She's my daughter and she's living with me."

Payge laughed and finally came into the living room, "She's only living with you if you win the custody battle and I'm sure we all know that's not happening."

"Well actually with me representing Lucas it will happen. I can promise you that." Topanga stepped in.

"Yeah, what are you mad for anyways? You're the one who cheated." Josh joined behind her.

I expected to argue when Payge arrived. The only reason she came is because she didn't want Lily to be alone with Lucas and I have a lot of respect for her parents but they shouldn't be worried about raising Lily. She's not their daughter. We were all having a good time before they came and now there was bickering and going back and forth. Fighting wasn't going to solve anything. Payge wanted revenge for whatever reason so she wasn't going to call off the custody battle. The only way this could be settled was in court. In all honesty, I just wanted everything to be over already.

"Okay everyone settle down. Just stop the fighting. Ignore Payge. She wants to cause trouble." I told everyone.

"Yeah sure okay Maya Hart. How are you doing without a best friend?" She blurted.

I rolled my eyes, "That's childish."

"Oh? It's childish now that you have drama with me but when it was Riley you loved fighting with her."

I looked over to Riley and back to her, "It's two different situations."

"Doesn't matter. You're scared of me and deep inside all of you know I'll have custody over Lily."

I let out an obnoxious laugh, "Scared of you? I'm not scared of you Payge. What is there to be scared of? And like Josh asked why are you so mad? Why are you trying to start drama with us? You're the one who betrayed us."

Joshua has been the best support system he's ever been. I was so upset about Payge, but then we started talking and he showed me I didn't need to argue or talk shit about anyone to get my point across that I hated them. Also I just didn't care because Payge was always like this, I didn't expect any difference. She would see a person she didn't like and she would try anything to make them angry. As for Riley, Riley did break my heart, I was angry and upset and I still am but she was the one always telling me to do this and do that. I didn't really care to bother Riley.

"I'm mad because you were supposed to talk to me. You blocked me on everything."

"Payge what is there to talk about? You tried to have sex with my fiancee."

"I was in a bad headspace at the time."

"That doesn't excuse this Payge. Trust me, I'm Maya Hart and I could beat your ass-"

"But there's no need for it. There are kids here including your daughter and there's no reason to fight. Please let's just settle down." My mother came behind me.

"Yeah you're right. I'm leaving. I tried to be generous and let Lucas see Lily, but all I'm receiving is disrespect." She bickered while picking up Lily.

"Let her stay," Lucas yelled, trying to grab her out of her hands.

Payge turned her back to him, "Get the hell away from me." She yelled back. Lily started to cry, "It's okay sweetheart. Your dad just likes to use violence with everything."

"I didn't even fucking touch you."

"You tried to."

"Okay. Get out of my house." Josh demanded opening the door.

"No problem. Come on Lily."

I looked around to see if everyone was watching and they were. It was sad seeing her have so much power. Every time Lucas tried to take Lily, Payge would call the police so Topanga told us it was best if we would just let her be until court.

"I-i-im so sorry." her mom wailed, "I really am," she said before walking out the door.

We stood there in silence still watching the door even though they had already left. Lucas punched the wall before growling with anger and running up the stairs. I felt bad. I brought Payge into their lives because I was so desperate for a best friend. I forced them together, and now Lily was going to get taken away from him.

"No one follow him. Trust me I know Lucas. He doesn't want anyone to bother him right now." Josh told them, "Let's just go back to what we were doing. Please don't let her ruin today."

It was easier said than done. It got kind of quiet after the situation. The adults were still cooking but they weren't talking as much, and we just sat down on the couch pretending to be watching tv. It was hard not to think about. Everyone loved Lily. Everyone loved Lucas.

"Maya and Riley. Can we talk?" Josh addressed us.

I looked up at him in a confused way.

"It's about Halloween. I'm not just going to pretend and sit here like my day wasn't ruined so honestly I'd rather just talk about what happened between you guys."

I didn't want to talk to Riley but I didn't want to disappoint Josh either. I felt bad. I knew I was stressing him out. Riley was his niece, and I had been talking bad on her the whole time while defending Payge. Payge influenced the way I acted towards Riley but that wasn't the main reason why I was no longer being mean to her anymore. It was Josh. We had a long conversation on how he felt about the situation. I knew I had to change the way I acted.

"Okay." I nodded and stood up. She did as well.

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**Riley's POV**

I was surprised by a lot of things that had happened in the past hour. Now I was in the room with Josh and Maya. _**I wanted to talk to Lucas.**_ So bad. Even though he didn't like me I wanted to comfort him, and tell him I think he could win. I can already tell he was a good dad, and I'm heartbroken just by watching Payge storm out of here with Lily.

"I'm not staying. You guys need to talk it out on your own. You're not kids. You're both 22."

"What?" Maya questioned.

"Maya, what did we talk about." Josh gave her a look.

"Fine." she sighed.

"Good luck. Be respectful please, both of you." Josh had smiled at us both and walked out the room We were talking about what happened on Halloween. I had no problem with talking to Maya. To be honest I had no problem with talking to anyone anymore. They made me uncomfortable because I knew they hated me but Payge was the biggest problem. I feel like Maya reacted the way she did with me because of Payge and I was right. Now that Payge was gone Maya no longer wanted to start fights with me all the time.

"Hi." I awkwardly said.

"Hey."

"On Halloween I got really angry because of the way you were acting. I understand you were probably annoyed with me. I was bringing my boyfriend and my new best friend out to New York when it's your wedding time but that wasn't my intention. This is my family too Maya, and they've been wanting to meet my boyfriend for a long time. And they thought it would be a good idea to invite a friend to New York so I wouldn't feel lonely, but sometimes the way you act really gets under my skin. I know what I did was wrong but I don't want to be made fun of the whole time i'm here."

I wasn't sure how she was going to react to that.

She sighed and nodded, "I know and i'm-i'm"

I laughed, "You're what?"

"Riley, please. Please don't make me say this."

I chuckled and rolled my eyes. Even though there was a lot of drama between us right now, that still made me happy. _**She was the same Maya Hart from high school.**_ She never said sorry to anyone, and when she knew she had to she struggled with saying it. I remember the time she accused this boy in our chemistry class of messing up her solution. She really just forgot what she was doing and messed it up herself. I told her to apologize and she said "Riley please don't make me".

"Maya…"

"Fine." She groaned and threw her head back, "_**I'm sorry."**_

"Thank you." I smiled.

"Um yeah...I don't know. I'm just hurt by what happened between us, but don't worry. I won't be bothering you anymore." She looked at me.

"I understand."

"Yeah...Is there anything you want to say?"

Yeah there was something I wanted to say. _**I wanted to ask if we could start over**_. I wanted to become friends again but I knew it was way too soon. I let her down as a best friend and then someone else let her down as a best friend. She didn't deserve that.

"I want to say that I'm sorry Payge betrayed you."

She turned red and looked down, "Yeah it's whatever."

"It's not whatever. You truly don't deserve it...i know you feel down, I mean I would to. I left you and now she left you, but you will get over it. You're about to get married to the guy you've been talking about since middle school Maya. Dont worry about a stupid girl or even stupid me because I know I messed uup too."

She smiled, "Thanks Riley."

I nodded, "Also at the party I wasnt shaming you for not having enough money. I'm happy my family was able to help you and I would never talk about your money problems. You of all people should know that." I told her.

"It's okay. I realized what you were trying to say. I'm hurt you cut me off but I can't lie and say I wasn't being obnoxious when you were in school and I'm sorry."

"Thank you for your apology Maya."

She nodded as well.

I didn't wanna be confused but I was. Where did we stand now? Were we talking? Were we still enemies? Was she only being nice to me because Josh told her so?

"So are we friends?" I questioned.

She looked at me and shook her head, "No. I'm sorry. I don't want a big war between us but I don't want to be friends either. It's hard to move on from the past Riley. I'm still hurt."

I nodded, "I hope someday I can show you how much you mean to me Maya." I stood up walking towards the door, "I'm sorry I left you. I wish I could go back to the day my mom asked me to move to Canada. I would stay for you Maya."

And with that I walked out the room. I still felt horrible for what I did. Sometimes I couldn't even face her. Sometimes I knew it was the best for the sake of my mental health at the time but I just wish I did it differently. I needed to talk to one more person. _**Someone who didn't want to see me but I needed to see him.**_

"Lucas." I said softly, opening the guest room's door.

He looked at me and then looked back at the wall, "Riley, get out. I'm not in the mood."

"I know and I'm sorry. I just feel bad and I wanted to come talk to you."

He didn't say anything, and to be honest I didn't know what to say next.

"So when's your court date?" I asked sitting next to him. I didn't even realize what he looked like up close, "Lucas are you okay?"

He looked so dead. So tired. His lips were peeled and pale. His skin was pale as well but around his nose was pink. He had huge dark eye bags that looked dark purple and black.

"Riley just leave." His voice cracked.

"Do they even see this? Do they realize you don't even look the same. Lucas have you been sleeping? Have you been eating?"

He shook his head, "I don't want to talk to you."

"Look Lucas. You can hate me all you want, but I won't let you beat yourself up over this. We'll get her back Lucas. We will."

"How do you know that?" He raised his voice, "They know I will lose. That's why everyone feels bad. That's why everyones so fucking quiet."  
I didn't get it. There was always a bigger chance of the mother winning the custody battle but not Payge. She was a different case. She was out of control and no where near stable.

"Payge isn't going to win anything Lucas."

"Riley you don't even know what happened to me when you left. I was fucked up."

I looked into his eyes, "I'm sorry Lucas."

"Yeah well it's too late now."

"No it's not. You just got sad that's all."

He let out a pity laugh, "It was way more than just sad. She's going to use it against me during court. Why would they allow Lily with me with a past like that?"

No one ever told me what really happened after I left. I knew just small details to it but the way Lucas was making it seem was extreme.

The last thing I wanted to find out was that I caused serious damage. I let out an anxious breath, "Lucas what happened?"

"Nothing." He shot.

"Okay. You don't have to tell me anything."

He still sat there in silence looking at the wall.

"Lucas, Riley, Time to eat!" I heard my mom call from downstairs.

I turned back to Lucas, "Do you want to come eat?" I questioned. He didn't say anything. I turned away and walked out the room and ran downstairs. There were a lot of options but _**I knew what Lucas liked from Thanksgivings in High School.**_ I grabbed a plate. I added Ham, he didn't like Turkey. I added mac and cheese, stuffing, mashed potatoes, a biscuit, rice and corn. That was the only vegetable he liked. I grabbed another plate and added apple pie, caramel cake and cookies. His three favorite desserts. I got him a can of coke before carefully walking up the stairs with my arms full.

"Here." I said walking back into the room. He turned towards me, "I know you probably don't want to talk to anyone right now but you have to eat Lucas. Please. Eat." I demanded setting the plates on the table beside him.

He looked at the food then back at me.

"Maya told you what to get me?" He finally spoke again.

"No. Why?"

He looked at me. A look I had never seen before and I didnt know if it was good or bad, "How'd you know-" He stopped speaking, "Nothing." He said looking back at the wall.

"Okay. I'll leave you now, but please eat. We're going to get her back...without a doubt. My mom is smart. I'm smart. I'll help her. We'll prepare." I said to him , stopping at the door, "You're a good dad Lucas." I told him before walking back down the stairs.  
"You ate your food that fast?" Josh came up to me looking impressed, Maya behind him.

I laughed, "No. I made Lucas a plate. He wasn't going to come down but he needs to eat."

Maya looked at me while Josh gave me a soft smile, "That's really thoughtful of you Riley."

"Yeah...It actually is." She said.

"Yeah...I think he should stay with you and Maya for a while. Just in the guest room maybe? He probably doesn't need to be by himself right now."

He nodded, "I agree. I just don't know how to make him listen to me Riley."

I sighed.

"But hey. Don't stress. We'll get her back. Come eat." He said, pulling my arm.

For the rest of the day we sat, stuffing ourselves until we were too full to take another bite. I felt good. I actually felt good. They probably didn't fully like me but I did care about them alot. Everyone went back to talking and laughing, but all I could do was think about Lucas. We were going to get Lily back. And that was a promise.


	12. Chapter 12: Say Yes To The Dress

**Hey Guys! Welcome back to Chapter 12 of Reunited! I'm such a liar lol. I'm sorry I know I said I was going to be active but something is always coming up and ruining it. I got a job and I've been a work pretty much every day but I kind of like where the story is going now and I'm off this week for a few days so I'll try to update more. I really hope you like this chapter because I know I do! Be safe everyone! Review, Like and Follow.**

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**Maya's POV**

_**I was getting married. **_It was always hard to wrap around my head but now it was time to pick my _**dress. **_I had waited for this moment for I don't know how long. There's no perfect wedding without a perfect wedding dress. I was never really into dresses. In middle and high school I rarely wore them. There was a time I got into them but I would always match it with something different you know, the rebel look I had. I wear them now though, pretty ones and this had to be a dress I would never forget.

"Another kiss?" Josh questioned.

I rolled my eyes and leaned in to kiss him.

"Wow. My own fiance is tired of kissing me." He took his hands off my face.

"Noooo, I'm not. I'm just so ready." I tried to calm my nerves.

We were already outside of the dress store. He was supposed to be dropping me off then leaving. We weren't supposed to see each other's wedding day attire but he was also going tuxedo shopping with the boys.

"I know you are." He pinched my cheeks, "But seriously Maya. Are you okay?"

I rolled my eyes again. Everyone kept reminding me that I didn't have Payge here with me to pick my dress.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that Joshua?" I pouted.

"Because...this is supposed to be the biggest moment of our lives, and the greatest and I feel like you're a little down because some things have changed from when you first started planning this moment."

"Okay yes. Payge was supposed to be here but she's not, and I'm glad she's not. It feels different I guess. Less special and I don't know I feel more alone even though I'm not and I just don't know what's wrong with me. Im so selfish."

"Baby you're not selfish. You grew up with a best friend who you did everything with your whole life. Changing from that can be difficult no matter who else is around you Maya. It's okay to feel the way youre feeling."

I nodded, "Yeah I guess you're right." I frowned looking down

"But hey look at me." He said picking up my chin, "I want you to keep an open mind. Riley is here...and she knows you probably more than I know you. If you need help with a dress I want you to ask her."

"Whatever." I told him.

"I'm gonna let you go now. Choose something good, you better blow my mind." He smiled.

I smiled back, "Okay I love you." I kissed him, "I love you too" He said before getting in the car.

"Bye boys. The suits better be extra fancy." I yelled before watching them ride off.

I turned away and walked back into the dress shop. Topanga, my mom, Smacke, Jade and Riley were the only ones here. It was officially time to pick my wedding dress.

"Honey, this is Caroline. She's going to be helping you pick your wedding dress today."

"Hi Maya. You're such a beautiful bride, congratulations."

"Thank you so much."

"So what kind of dress are you looking for?"

I looked around the place. They had so many dresses. It was so beautiful and elegant and other brides were also here picking their wedding dress.

"They're all so beautiful I don't even know honestly."

"Well let's start small. Do you want a short or long wedding dress?"

"Long...I didn't even know they made short wedding dresses." I snickered.  
"What about sleeveless or sleeves."

"I definitely want my wedding dress to have sleeves."

"And do you want any lace, jewellery, designs or pearls on your dress?"

"Yes. I do."  
"Tight or kind of open?"

"That's the thing I feel like I'm going to have trouble on. I actually searched up your website before coming here and decided what two kinds of wedding dresses I want. It's either between a mermaid or a ball gown. I feel like my type would be more of a mermaid kind of dress. I was never really the prissy type to wear big dresses but maybe I want something different."

"Perfect. I know exactly what dresses you need to try on then. I'm gonna go set up your dressing room and get the first set of dresses. I'll start with the ball gown dresses and you start with the mermaid dresses."

"We should split up." My mom said, "Topanga and I will go with Caroline and how about you 4 ladies go together."

I nodded, "Okay."

"Pick out 4 you may like and well get 4 as well. What's your budget?"

"There is no budget. I want the best." I told her.

She nodded and walked away.

"This...is so fucking exciting. I cannot believe we're about to pick your wedding dress." Jade said, trying to find the mermaid dresses, "Here they are."  
There was a whole section of dresses. How was I supposed to choose out of all of these dresses? Surprisingly this was already giving me anxiety. This was the dress everyone including my soon to be husband was going to see and I wanted it to be perfect.

"I don't know where to start." I told them.

"I'll be right back." Riley said disappearing into the dress aisle.

"Yay another person to leave me on my special day." I rolled my eyes. I started looking through the racks. They were all beautiful. Some of them were the same with just a tiny bit difference and some of them had no design on it at all. I picked up one dress with a plunging v neckline and lace long sleeves.

"Is this cute?" Jade held the dress up, "Or how about this one?" Smackle asked.

They both were literally the ugliest dresses I had ever seen. One of the dresses was simple at the top but had so many feathers at the bottom and the other one had way too many ruffles.

"That's not my style guys."  
"What? It totally is, are you kidding me, they both are."

"You think I like to wear shit that makes me look like a bird?" I asked.

"Guess not…" Jade said putting the dresses back.

We kept looking for the next fifty minutes. Riley still didn't come back so I couldn't ask her for help even if I wanted to. Why did she even come if she was going to wonder off like that. It's like everytime I give her the chance to actually speak to me she messes it up. I was going to put our drama aside for the day but I can't even because I have no idea where she is.

I had finally picked up 4 dresses. One of them was the one I picked before, one was a short sleeve, one had a slit on the side and the other had pretty designs on the back. I had to pick them all because it turns out Smackle and Jade truly didn't know my style at all. They tried to give me a peach tinted dress which I hated and also a gold tinted dress. I just wanted white. They were mostly picking up dresses they would wear instead of dresses I would wear.

"Let's just go meet up with my mom and Topanga now." I said walking away with the dresses.

They shrugged and followed after.

"Maya!" Caroline called out, "Your dressing room is over here."

"We found four beautiful dresses." Topanga said, hanging them up.  
"So I'm going to stay in here with you to help you put them on while your family hangs around by the couch for when you come out with the dress on okay?"

I nodded.

"Good luck!" They said before heading out of the room.

"So how about we try on the dresses you picked first."

"Okay." I said grabbing one of the dresses. I took off my clothes and picked up the dress carefully. I didnt wanna ruin it or put any wrinkles in it. It slipped right on and she zipped it up. The dress had pearls in the front but a slit on the slide. The sleeves were kind of short and the dress went straight down to my feet and it was also really tight. It complimented my figure and it showed a lot of cleavage. It was gorgeous, I looked gorgeous. This was the most fanciest dress I had ever put on, but it didn't give me the feeling I wanted it to. I felt sexy and I didnt want to be sexy on my wedding day.

"Come on, let's go show them!" Caroline opened the door. I walked outside where they were and everyone's mouths flew open.

"I'm going to cry." My mom said being dramatic.

"Maya you look so beautiful." Jade complimented me.

I put on a soft smile. I stepped on the stand and looked in the mirror.

"Do you like it?" Caroline asked me.

"No." I told her.

"Why not?" Topanga asked.

"Just no. It isn't me. I don't really think I want a tight dress anymore. No mermaid style."

"Are you sure? I think you should try all 4 on. I promise you theyre not all like this and even a different design can make such a big difference."

"No I'm sure. All the dresses I picked now that I think about it look like something I would wear at prom just white and I need something bigger than prom. I don't want a tight dress, I don't want a slit and I don't want anything with too much cleavage."

"See you should've gone with our dresses!" Smackle said.

"No the hell I shouldn't have because I didn't like them okay? They were ugly as hell and you are tasteless."

Caroline laughed, "We have a bridezilla!"

"Yeah I kind of figured she was going to be a bridezilla."  
"What the hell is a bridezilla?" I asked.

"Usually when the bride gets stressed out and starts to become mean and demanding. I just didn't expect for it to be on your first dress."

I mean yeah of course because no one was really making me feel better about this.

"Can we just go try the ball gown dresses on?" I said walking away and going back into the dressing room. I wanted to feel pretty and breathtaking. I want people to see me in something they wouldn't usually see me in. I wanted to feel like a princess.  
"So here are the 4 ball gowns."

I looked at the ball gowns in disbelief.

"Why did she pick out a black wedding dress?" I quizzed.

"She said that was your style."

I stood there puzzled for a second, "I'm not trying that, I don't want a black wedding dress. I'm not trying this on because it has a hint of pink and I want just white. I'm not trying this on because it's not even a ball gown. It's more of an A line wedding dress. I'll only try this one on."

"Wow, okay. They were really confident you would like these."

"I know and I'm sorry I just don't." I sighed trying on another dress.

"There's no need to apologize. It's your wedding day. Your big day. You need the dress you want."

I smiled, "Thank you for understanding."

"Of course." She said zipping up the next dress.

This dress was completely plain and basic. It was sleeveless but it barely had any beading on it, and it had this weird draggy ruffle on the back of it. I hated this dress too.

"I don't like it but I need to talk to them anyway." I said walking out of the dress room.

"Wow so elegant." Topanga smiled when I walked out.

"Yeah I like the basic design." Smackle said.

I took a deep breath, "Who picked out the black wedding dress?"

"I did. Honey I thought you loved your rebel look."

"Mom this is my wedding. Forget about the rebel look. I need all of you to listen. Thank you so much for trying to get a dress that matches my style but it doesn't work. I'm not even goth. I would never wear a black wedding dress. I hate this dress, it's too basic and I hate the other dresses too. I want a white dress, not a black or not a dress with a hint of any color. Just white. I want it big. I want a lot of beading. I want an actual ball gown dress. I want to look like a princess. So now we have to look for more-"

"Wow." Riley appeared amused.

"Where the hell have you been? And hey you cut me off!"

"I'm so sorry. It's just really nice seeing you in a wedding dress, and I've been trying to find the perfect dress for you and I think I found it."

"If they couldn't find it, why do you think you can?"

"Just try it on sweetheart before we look for more dresses."

"Whatever."

"I'll take it." Caroline got the dress from Riley, "Let's go try it on."

"Actually, can I come with you?"

"Is that okay with you Maya?" Caroline asked me.

"Um okay I guess."

She smiled and followed us to the dressing room. As soon as we got in she put a blindfold on me.

"Riley what the hell!"

"Just trust me."

"Yeah right, last time I trusted you you left me for 4 years."

"Calm down Maya I just want it to be a surprise. I don't want you to look until the others see you as well."

"Whatever" I said again while slipping in the wedding dress.

"Here I got her a very long veil and also these sapphire earrings since our bridesmaid dresses our blue. It goes so well together. It looks so beautiful."

They put the veil and earrings on me and led me out of the room.

"Oh my god." I heard them gasp.

"Wow Riley you really did it this time." Topanga said.

"This is the one." I heard my mother sobbing.

"Okay hurry up and get me on this stand. You're giving me anxiety."

"Here we go." Riley said taking the blindfold off.

I looked in the mirror and stood there completely speechless.

"I remember when we were 15.. We would always talk about who we would marry and what kind of dress we would wear. You would say you would marry Josh and I would say I would marry Lucas. I always said I wanted a big puffy pink dress with sunflowers on it because for some reason I was just a very happy person back then." She laughed, "And you would always say you hated big dresses and you hated princesses and that if you got married it would be in sneakers and a black wedding dress instead of a white one."

"See what's why I chose- nevermind i'm not gonna ruin the moment." My mom said.

Riley laughed, "Anyway I knew things would change once we were adults, and they have. You were right. You are gonna marry Josh but not in a black wedding dress. Remember I always told you that you were wrong and that you would wanna be a princess when you grew up. I figured you wanted something different for your big day and I'm guessing by the look on your face...I was right too."

"I-" I struggled to get a word out. This was the dress I just didn't know how to say. It was a princess ball gown. Half sleeves which had lace. The top of the dress was covered with lace and so was part of the bottom. The middle was plain, no lace and It had beautiful beading on the side and on the back. It was so long and it had a long train. It wasn't too puffy but it was big enough. It was elegant and beautiful.

"I also forgot." Riley said, pulling out something from behind her back, "This has sapphire diamonds in it as well." She said placing a tiara right on my head and attaching it with a veil.

"I look-"

"You look like you're in a fairytale. You look like a princess Maya."

I nodded slowly, still speechless.

"I actually feel like a bride now."

"And you are a beautiful one. Do you like this dress Maya?" Caroline asked.

"I love it."

"So are you saying yes to the dress?" She asked me.

"Yes."

They started clapping and cheering. I didn't know what to say. I was getting really emotional but I didn't want to show it in front of everyone. I was sure about two things. _**I was emotional because I found the perfect wedding dress and I was emotional because of Riley.**_ _**She found my wedding dress and I kind of knew she would've before we came here just like she found my bridesmaids dresses.**_ I thought we no longer knew each other because of the 4 years we were not talking but I guess _**some things hadn't changed.**_ Now I was confused on whether or not I wanted her back in my life. That speech she gave me about us being 15 really hit me. _**I am marrying Josh**_ and I do wanna feel like a princess and surprisingly _**she still is here watching me get married like she said she would when we were kids. **_It's weird because I have some sort of emotional connection with her and I always have. I wanted to hug her. I wanted to thank her. I hated her and I loved her at the same time. I hated her because she broke my heart and left me for 4 years, and it's hard getting past that. _**But I loved her because she was Riley...**_


	13. Chapter 13: Ruben

**HEYYYY. Welcome back to Chapter 12 of Reunited. I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe and thank you all for the reviews. It makes me so happy that you guys are liking the story. Please keep reviewing it honestly motivates me. I hope you like this chapter and Ill try to update more. Review, Fav and Follow. **

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**Riley's POV**

Things were good. For the first time in forever I felt kind of happy being in New York. Maya had been acting more positive towards me since we picked her wedding dress. I think she finally realized how much I truly still cared for her. I didn't even know what we were. Were we finally _**friends?**_ She no longer tried her hardest not to look at me. If she looked at me she would smile. If I talked she would actually talk back instead of ignoring what I had to say and when I'm around she seemed less tense than she was before. We aren't where I want us to be right now. She's still kind of weird around me which was expected since I bet it was hard forgiving me but I was going to try my best to get us back to talking. Permanently.

It was a Friday night and me and Daniel decided to settle down. Order food, buy snacks, drink and watch a scary movie together.

"How the hell does that doll keep moving?" I asked him, resting on his shoulder.

We were watching Annabelle. Some weird creepy movie about a red head doll killing people. I didn't want to watch it but he picked it and told me it was a good movie.

"Daniel...really how does she keep moving?" I asked.

No response. I looked up just to see he was on his phone smiling paying no attention to the movie.

"Who are you texting." I snatched his phone jokingly.

"Hey!" He yelled snatching it back, "Watch the movie"

"Um you watch the movie instead of being on your phone." I told him.

"I am I am." He said putting his phone down. I rolled my eyes and cuddled back onto him.

"Can we watch something else?" I asked him.

No response and as usual he was on his phone again. I looked back up, "Are you serious? It hasn't even been a minute."

"I'm sorry babe. It's just Ruben. He's having some girlfriend troubles and I need to help him out."

"You're having your own girlfriend troubles." I told him.

"Riley doesn't do this." He threw his head back and groaned.

"No... you know every week we have a date night. Tonight is our date night and recently it's like you've been on your phone every time we've been together for the past week."

"Come on Riley, I'm not always on my phone."

"Yes you are and it's always Ruben. Is he your new boyfriend or something?" I asked.

I'm not usually a problematic person. I try to avoid conflict at all times but something about Daniel has been so off. I thought it was because he was away from his friends and family and with my friends and family people who he barely knew but everytime I asked him if he wanted to go back home he said no. Ruben was his best friend, but the thing is I never met Ruben. When I bring Ruben up Daniel ignores all my questions and changes the subject. I've met everyone of Daniel's friends except for the one who he texted the most. Ruben. I didn't know if he went to our college. I don't know what he looks like. I don't know anything about him.

"Obviously not."

"Okay well I'm going to sleep. We'll continue our date night when you're done texting him." I told him getting off the couch.

"Well I'm kind of tired too." He said getting from the couch and following me into the bedroom.

"You know if you wanted to go to sleep instead of watch a movie you could have said that. Would've saved a lot of time."

"I'm sorry baby you know I don't like to make you upset."

"Sure." I rolled my eyes and got into bed, "And don't try anything. We're not having sex."

"Okay." He sighed before closing his eyes.

I wasn't going to sleep. I was paranoid for no reason but it was just a little weird. Who was Ruben? Why haven't I met him? Why doesnt Daniel like to talk about his own best friend? I stayed up for the next 30 minutes waiting for Daniel to fall asleep before making a decision that I'll probably regret later. I've always respected people's privacy and always believed that without trust there was no relationship. I thought that I would never have to do this and I feel more than bad for doing it but if I didn't get it over with now it was going to bother me forever. I was going to look through his phone.

I picked up his phone trying to remember his password. He always had mine and I've always had his password but we never had to use it because there was never anything to worry about.

"11469" I whispered to myself before his phone unlocked, "Got it."

It was his mom's birth date. January 14th, 1969. I took no time in going to Imessages and looking for Ruben's name. I didn't want him to wake up out of nowhere and catch me. Everyone else had contact pictures except for Ruben which was suspicious once again. I looked at the messages between them confused on what the hell was going on.

***Text Messages***

**Daniel: Me and Riley are watching Annabelle. Kinda lame but I don't wanna hurt her feelings and just go to bed.**

**Ruben: Lmao yeah she's a big baby don't do that.**

**Daniel: She's starting to get suspicious but I miss talking to you and it's kind of hard being alone together in New York without everyone getting suspicious.**

**Ruben: I miss you too Daniel. How about we meet at Topanga's tomorrow? Just tell Riley you're taking a walk and I'll tell her I'm going to buy some clothes or something**

**Daniel: Sounds good**

**Ruben: Goodnight (heart emoji)**

**Daniel: Goodnightttt (heart emoji)**

***End of Text Messages***

I was confused. Ruben was someone in New York and they said they were going to tell me where they're going so they obviously know me. Daniel was definitely lying about something. Ruben lived in Canada. He wouldn't randomly fly to New York especially when he didn't know me to attend Maya's wedding and he wouldn't come visit Daniel either without Daniel introducing him to me. I wanted to scroll up more to find out who it was but Daniel seemed like he was starting to wake up so I quickly put his phone down and pretended to be asleep.

* * *

***Time Skip***

**Riley's POV**

It was 1pm. We had been in the house all day. There was a meeting in an hour at Maya and Josh's house to check up on how close we were to finishing the wedding planning but other than that my mom cooked us a big breakfast and for the rest of the morning we sat around all day watching TV. The only thing that was on my mind was when he was going to tell me he was going for a walk. He wasn't on his phone until now and I'm sure he was going to leave soon. I was gonna put something on like a hat to make me less noticeable and follow him to Topangas. I wanted to talk to someone about it so bad but I didn't tell Kimberly because I wasn't ready to. Now I wanted to because I wanted someone to come with me. "Kimberly, I have to tell you something."I told her, walking up to her.

"Actually Riley, I was just about to go shopping. Can we talk later?"

She was about to what

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah. I don't know, I just wanna see what type of clothing styles New York has, I guess."

I could literally hear my heart beat out of my chest. This had to be a coincidence. Ruben said he was going to tell me he was going shopping and now Kimberly is telling me she was going shopping.

"Can I come with you?" I asked her hoping it wasn't her.

"Actually I kinda just wanna go alone. It's one of the days you know."

I nodded trying to hold back my nausea. Why would they be sneaking behind my back to meet each other? They barely even talked when we were all together and why would he need to change her contact to Ruben. Why couldn't it just be Kimberly.

"Bye. Love you." She said before walking out the door. I sat back down on the couch awkwardly where Daniel looked at me then back at his phone. I needed something to make him stay.

"Do you wanna sneak around?" I asked him not knowing what to say. Daniel would never turn down sex.

"You mean like have sex?"

"Yes I mean have sex."

"Um." He sat and thought for a minute, "I actually don't feel good. I was going to go for a walk for you know. Some fresh air."

Wow.

"Okay." I stood up not knowing what else to say, "Hurry back please."

"Okay." He stood up, grabbed his jacket and headed out. Even though I said I was going to follow him I don't think I had the strength to do so. I would've gone if Ruben wasn't Kimberly but now that I know she was I was afraid of losing the two most important people to me in a day. They could be doing anything and I didnt wanna find out what.

"M-m-mom. I'm going to Josh's early." My voice cracked. I was on the verge of breaking down but I didn't want to. I just couldn't assume they were doing anything wrong. I trusted them both. I just had to act normal.

* * *

**Maya's POV**

Everything had changed since Riley picked my wedding dress. We had small conversations now like how are you, hi, how was your night, what are you doing today but that's all. It's kind of awkward to be honest. I decided to forgive her and put it in the past but I also want to talk to her about it because I never really got to tell her how I felt when she left and what happened when she left. Hopefully we get close enough to have that conversation.

"I'm here." Riley said as she walked through the door.

We were still finalizing the wedding planning so everyone was over once again.

"Hey." she said with a little smile and sat on the couch.

"Are you okay?" I asked her noticing she seemed off.

"Yeah yeah so where is everyone?" She asked, straightening up the pillows.

"Upstairs playing video games...Why?" I asked her while watching her fumble around with stuff.

"Just wondering. Thought we were supposed to be talking about the wedding." She said then getting up to fix the curtains.

"We're about to start soon…Riley are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah duh." She chuckled and made an awkward face.

Me and Riley may have not been friends for a while but Im not dumb. I knew when something was bothering her. Back in Middle School and High School she would always mess with things and ask a lot of questions when something was bothering her. She would try to distract herself when she really knew none of those things would help her.

"Hey." I went over to her, "We cant start off a new friendship lying to each other Riley. Tell me what's wrong"

She sighed and looked down at the floor.

"Daniel is lying to me and I don't know why. He's also hiding something from me but I also don't know why either."

"What is he hiding from you?"

"He's always texting his best friend Ruben which I never met but today I found out Ruben was really Kimberly. And they are meeting behind my back."

"What? How do you know that?" I asked her, shocked.

"I was looking through his phone and he said he was going to meet Ruben at Topangas. Then Ruben said he was going to lie to me about going shopping and then the next morning they left around the same time and Kimberly told me she was going shopping."

I stood there not knowing what to say. The first thing I thought of was the Josh and Payge situation. I thought Payge was my best friend but she tried to hook up with my fiance but I really didn't want to put the image of Daniel cheating on her with Kimberly in her head. It's a shaky thought.

"What if-"

"HEYYY NIECE." Josh came into the room shouting.

"Hi Josh."

"We were in the middle of a conversation babe." I rolled my eyes.

"Look at you two. BONDING! I can't believe it, you honestly don't know how happy this makes me."

We both smiled.

"Well everyones coming down now."

I nodded.

"Um. I know you may not want to rush our friendship but can we hang out...I really need it right now."

She's right. I didn't want to rush the friendship at all. I wanted it to naturally fall back into place and I really wanted to talk to her about how she made me feel when she left but she needed me. She needed me to help her and since she helped me with my dress I knew it was the right thing to do.

"Yeah of course. When and where?" I asked.

"How about the bay window?"

The Bay Window...I felt a tingle down my spine when she said that. I haven't been in the bay window since she left. I used to sit there and cry when I missed her.

"Wow…"

"I know." She chuckled.

"Yeah sure."

"Okay." She smiled before walking away.

I looked over to Lucas who was staring at us the whole time. I honestly didn't know how Lucas felt about me giving Riley a second chance. I wanted to talk to him about it but I knew Lucas wasn't happy. I didn't want to put any more stress on him. I wanted to find him another girlfriend but he said he didn't want that. I knew he just wanted Lily back, but there was nothing I could do about that any more...and with Riley, I'm finally excited to see where we go and then hopefully where her and Lucas go.


End file.
